Ass-Kicking Email – Get Started Today!

Hey,
–
Today is all about getting started.
In this email I will:
1. Share with you a video to give you advice in getting started.
2. Offer other options for people unsure where to start.
–
Hopefully you’ve had a chance to read over some of the material.
I also hope you’ve given some thought into what 30-Day Challenge
you will be pursuing during this month.
If you still aren’t sure, this email should give you everything
you need to get going.

–I’m Joining the Program Too–

I don’t just sit on the sidelines giving advice–I actively use all
the tactics and suggestions I offer in this course!
When I first started this program, I created a video discussing how
I was using the format of the program to learn French. The video is
a bit old, but I’m happy to say it worked–I was able to reach a
level of conversational fluency in French.
You can watch the video here to get some advice on starting your own
training efforts.
Watch here (~6 minutes): Video 001.mp4

–Where Should I Start?–

If you just joined, there may only be 3 implementation guides.
Considering most of the content is still coming up, it can be hard
to pick the best challenge to start with.
But, as I mention in the video, you don’t *need* to use an
implementation guide as the basis for your 30-Day Trial. Any tool
you want to implement in your life will do, and you can still use
of all the coaching, feedback, advice and community to make it
stick.

The most important step is picking a trial and actually training.

Reading won’t make you a ninja. Neither will it make you a jiu-jitsu
learning master. Only starting a trial and working on it can.

–10 More Ideas for 30-Day Challenges–

What are some of these “alternative” challenges outside the guides?
I’ve put together a quick list of 10 possible 30-Day Trials you
could use to improve your learning. So now, you have no excuses!
#1 – Weekly/Daily Goals – (Read here: http://bit.ly/zBvV )
#2 – Fixed-Schedule Productivity – (Read here: http://bit.ly/C6qUD )
#3 – Getting Things Done System – (Read here: http://bit.ly/lz8Z )
#4 – Predefined Study Schedule – No cramming, just consistency.
#5 – Read Ahead Habit – Commit to reading ___ pages per day.
#6 – Deep Practice Habit – Complete ___ hard problems each day.
#7 – Teach to Learn Skill – Explain to other students every day.
#8 – Ruthless Organization – Keep binders storing all tasks.
#9 – Internet Reduction – Keep Facebook, email etc. to once per day.
#10- Two-Flow Creative Skill – (Read here: http://bit.ly/clqrL )

–Now: Take Action!–

Here’s what you need to do:
1. Pick your trial.
2. Start working on it TODAY.
Ass-Kicking Email – Rock Your 30-Day Trial!
Hey,
Today is about going from getting started, to making sure you
finish. I want to share how some of the Learning on Steroids
members are rocking their 30-Day Trials, as well as how you
can make sure yours lasts.
In this email:
1. I discuss Benny Lewis’s *Fluent in 3 Months* interview.
2. 30DT progress and examples from the group.
3. How to make sure your 30DT sticks.
–
First, if you haven’t already, please make a new post about your
30 Day Trial in the FORUMS:

Too many people sit on the sidelines and accomplish nothing with a
program like this. You need to stop reading and start taking action.
This program is about TRAINING rapid learning tactics, not just
discussing them!
–
Today I want to discuss a great interview I did with Benny Lewis,
which is part of your first month’s package. The audio quality isn’t
perfect, but I can assure you that the information is well worth it.
Benny Lewis is a friend of mine who writes a blog detailing his
“missions” or language-learning, travel-hopping adventures. His
broader mission is to become fluent in a new language, with no
prior experience in just three months.
To be honest, when I first heard about Benny, I thought it was a
scam too. I’ve been working on mastering French, so the idea that
someone could do that in under three months seemed impossible.
That was until I met Benny.
Benny speaks 8 languages, acquiring 7 of them in under 7 years.
He breaks down his method, which I would call a total immersion
method for learning. For Benny, and potentially for you, learning
doesn’t need to be an isolated activity. It’s a lifestyle.
If you want to access the Benny Lewis interview you can do so from
Audio Interviews

Even if you aren’t interested in foreign languages, I think Benny’s

story has strong implications for all types of learning. I’m just
beginning to wrap my head around the possibilities this has for
learning *other* subjects.
Also, check out Benny’s new blog. He’s constantly taking on new
missions to learn languages rapidly and has his own guide on
language learning that I highly recommend:
http://www.fi3m.com/
–
Like many of you, I’ve used this program to run my own 30-Day Trials
In fact, I’ve documented a few of them in the forums already. If you
missed my past video talking about my first trial, and how you can
start yours, check it here:
Video 001.mp4
–
What are some of the other members doing? Here are a few examples
from past Learning on Steroids members to give you some ideas!
“For my 30 day trial… I am going to use weekly and daily goals
to get things done.”
“Commit for 30 days incorporating flow-based notetaking into
my classes.”
“I’m doing trial #1 [Weekly/Daily Goals]”
“Keep an activity log for 3-hours per day.”
“I’m going to do all my readings BEFORE class.”
“25 Metaphors per day.”
These are just a few of the example trials I’ve heard. Start
yours today if you haven’t already.
And please WRITE ABOUT YOUR TRIAL IN THE FORUMS! That way we can all
encourage each other and participate in the community.
–
Sticking Points
Here’s a quick list of some suggestions for 30DTs:
1. *Remembering* to do your trial is key.
It’s easy to forget to do your trial work, especially when you’re
busy.
If you keep a daily goals list, I suggest adding your trial work to
that list every day. If you don’t you might want to consider
marking down your work on a calendar, agenda or some other place to
help you keep track.
2. Keep it specific on a daily level.
Try to write your trial so you know *exactly* what you’ll be doing
each day. Saying you want to practice a certain technique isn’t
useful unless you know how that breaks down to what you’ll be doing
each day.
3. Make it easy, make it simple.
As I say in the video, people underestimate the difficulty of
sticking to a trial for 30 days. That’s why I recommend picking
challenges that feel a tad too easy, because they’ll be more likely
to last long-term.
Second to that is keeping things simple. Having a trial which can be
easily summarized in a sentence or two will have fewer complications
than one which requires pages of documentation.
–
Thanks for reading, here’s what you need to do:
1. If you haven’t started your trial yet, pick one and start today!
2. Document your trial in the FORUMS in 1-2 sentences.
3. If you HAVE started your trial, congratulations! Don’t hesitate
to email me if you get stuck, and keep working on it.
Ass-Kicking Email: How an MIT PhD, successful author and blogger
finishes his work
Hey,
Today is about productivity. In this email I’m going to discuss the
audio training from your starter package with Cal Newport.
–
In this email:
1. 30-Day Trial progress
2. Why productivity trumps learning tactics for academic success.
3. Audio training with Cal Newport on becoming accomplished.
–
Unless you’ve been missing the emails, or living under a cave,
you’re probably aware that we’re using 30-Day Challenges to begin
train the rapid learning ideas.
If you haven’t already written about your 30-Day Trial in the FORUMS
please do so! That way you can get advice, feedback and track your
training efforts.
For those engaged in their 30DTs here are some quick tips:
1. Know exactly how much work you need to do each day. The trial I
discussed in the video is 30 minutes per day of reading/listening in
French.
2. Don’t skip days! The point of the trial is to complete 30 days
consecutively. If you miss 1-2 days, keep focusing. If you miss
a lot more (say 4-5) you may want to refocus for a new 30-day
period. Consistency creates habit.
3. Feel free to practice tactics outside your trial. The point of
the trial is to commit to one change, but that doesn’t mean you
can’t work on other tactics without committing to them.
–
In January of 2010 I wrote this article, which reflects a lot of
my philosophy for the course:
http://bit.ly/7NkUgM
The idea behind the article is my 3 O’s for managing a busy life:
1. Omit – Cancel commitments you don’t need to do.
2. Organize – Organize your time to get tasks done.
3. Optimize – Optimize the way you complete tasks to do them faster.
My feeling is that generally, you should progress through these
three links in the chain if you want to save time, with the easiest
wins coming from omit, and the harder earned wins coming from
optimization.
Note, however, that organize comes above optimize. I believe that
creating a reliable productivity system outpaces the gains (usually)
from optimizing how you learn.
I’d argue that if your work systems are a mess, then it’s probably
better to start on fixing that than to master learning techniques
which won’t have the same immediate productivity payoff that being
organized can offer.
–
Cal Newport is an MIT postdoc who has written multiple student
advice books. In addition he runs the most successful student advice
blog on the web. Despite this accomplished life and heavy workload,
he always finishes his day at 5pm.
If you aren’t already subscribed to Cal’s fantastic blog, go here:
http://www.calnewport.com/blog/
Cal and I shared a conversation in which we discuss his unique
method to stay productive, as well as what it means to become an
accomplished student and live a remarkable life.
Note: once again the audio quality isn’t perfect. Skyping between
Boston and France can result in a few glitches. But believe me, the
ideas Cal shares more than make up for any auditory imperfection:
Go to the CONTENT area under BONUSES to listen to the entire
interview:
Audio Interviews