​How To Trigger Neuroplasticity To Learn Things Faster

If you perform something correctly, why should your brain take notice? When we make errors, it feels “stressful,” but that increase in attention puts us in a much better place to perform and execute learning-related behaviors in the next attempt - while your forebrain is in that maximally attentive state. ~ AH

This isn't a hack to learning faster. It's what causes learning. You cannot learn if you don't make mistakes. You learn because you make mistakes.

Look at your day-to-day habits: brushing your teeth, walking, typing, etc., You do them every day but still don't get better at them. Why?

You're not making errors. Errors force your brain to pay attention. It narrows the focus on this thing. Adrenaline increases, concentration increases, learning begins.

So, when you make mistakes, or when you notice you're not good at something yet, do not shy away from it. Instead, you need to embrace the mistake. Look forward to it.

The more you make mistakes, the more alert and agitated you feel. Your brain feels like it needs to solve the problem. Your motivation and dopamine increase. This triggers neuroplasticity even more. Amazing.

Okay, so now you know you need to make mistakes. But how?

Well, this can be applied to anything. Could be sports, designing, writing emails, increasing charisma, coding, focusing, negotiating, anything.

Look at your upcoming day - specifically things you'll do in the next few hours.
​What's one thing you'll do that you feel you should improve in?

Okay, just know that when you're doing it. You need to dive into the mistakes. Start by doing it wrong. It's okay. You can say: "I'm not good at x yet, but I'm learning".

In these emails, I always make the mistake of trying to include my personal feel and how I use a protocol so now when I notice, I try to stop... oh, oops, sorry! I did it again. It's okay, I'm learning :)

Anyway, this practice makes you learn more in one session than you've done in the past month.

If you want to improve at something, you need to make errors. So make them.

This tool is from the Neuroplasticity episode where Andrew covers how you can accelerate skill learning!
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