Learning a new skill doesn’t have to take years of practice. In fact, you can get surprisingly good at almost anything with just 20 hours of focused effort.
After speaking with my friend Josh Kaufman about skill acquisition, I gathered five powerful techniques that can help you master any skill in less time than you think.
5 Steps To Learning A New Skill
Let me be crystal clear: You don’t need 10,000 hours to learn something new. In fact, you can get surprisingly good at almost any skill in just 20 hours of focused practice. Here’s exactly how:
1. Set clear targets with what you want to achieve
I see this all the time when most people talk about things they want to learn like “I want to learn Spanish” or “I want to get into photography.” These vague goals are exactly why not many of them succeed.
A better way to approach this is by setting clear targets on what you want to achieve instead.
To start, define your exact end goal that you want to achieve. Ask yourself:
- What specific thing do you want to be able to do?
- How will you know when you’ve succeeded?
- What’s the minimum level of skill you need?
Your specific and actionable goals will look a lot clearer than vague goals which you might have decided on without much thought. For example:
| Vague goal | Specific and actionable goals |
|---|---|
|
Learn Spanish |
Hold a 10-minute conversation about my work with a Spanish speaker |
|
Learn photography |
Take professional-quality portraits of my family using manual camera settings |
|
Learn to code |
Build and launch a working e-commerce website using React |
When your brain knows exactly what “done” looks like, it can map out the steps to get there.
But here’s the critical part most people miss: You need to focus on just ONE skill at a time. I know it’s tempting to learn five things at once. Don’t do that. Here’s a simple framework for choosing skills you want to learn:
- Write down every skill you want to learn
- Ask yourself: “If I could only learn one of these in the next 3 months, which would have the biggest impact on my life?”
- Cut your list in half
- Do it again
- And again until only one skill remains
Remember: You’re not saying no forever to the other skills but saying “not right now.” This is how top performers think. They know that spreading yourself too thin guarantees mediocrity.
2. Break down the skill into smaller parts to avoid getting overwhelmed
Here’s a secret that master learners know: No skill is a single skill on its own.
Most skills are actually a bundle of smaller sub-skills. Understanding this changes everything about how you learn.
Let me show you what I mean with public speaking. Most people think public speaking is just “talking in front of people.” But when you break it down, you realize it’s vocal projection, body language, storytelling structure, and audience engagement all working together. Suddenly, instead of mastering this huge, intimidating skill called “public speaking,” you can focus on improving your voice projection for 3 days, then work on storytelling for a week.
This breakdown approach works for any skill. Want to learn web development? Don’t think of it as one massive challenge of “learning to code.” Instead, recognize its HTML structure, CSS styling, and basic JavaScript, each building on the last. Every complex skill becomes manageable when you break it into its basic components.
Why does this matter? First, it makes the impossible feel possible. Instead of facing one massive mountain, you’re looking at a series of manageable hills. Second, it gives you a clear practice roadmap. You can tackle one sub-skill at a time, mastering each piece before moving to the next
How to break down any skill
Most people approach learning without a clear strategy. They collect random information, watch countless videos, and hope something works. This inefficient approach wastes both time and effort.
To fix this, start by finding 2-3 genuine experts who actively teach beginners. You’ll find them through:
- Top-rated online courses on platforms like Udemy or Coursera
- Popular YouTube channels with structured teaching playlists
- Well-reviewed books and their accompanying online resources
- Industry-specific learning platforms or apps (like Duolingo for languages or freeCodeCamp for programming)
You can also study their teaching methods systematically by:
- Starting with their free content to understand their teaching style.
- Taking detailed notes from their beginner-focused videos or articles. If you’re learning from a subject matter expert, follow their recommend learning sequence rather than just jumping around aimlessly
- If they consistently provide value, you can consider investing in their paid teaching material/courses.
Create your experimental roadmap by designing 2-3 distinct practice approaches based on these expert insights. Test each approach through focused 2-3 day learning sprints, using specific success indicators to measure progress. When you find an approach producing clear results, double down on it and eliminate the rest.
3. Apply the 80/20 rule
Ever heard of the Pareto Principle? It states that roughly 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. When it comes to learning new skills, this principle is pure gold. This means that a small subset of techniques will deliver most of your progress, and by identifying and focusing on the vital 20% of techniques, you’ll get 80% of the results you want.
Think about learning how to play the guitar. You could spend years trying to learn every possible chord progression and technique. Or you could learn the 8-10 most common chords and basic strumming patterns used in thousands of popular songs. This approach alone could help you learn to play songs on the guitar in weeks instead of years.
Here’s how to find that crucial 20% when learning a skill:
- Pick 2-3 highly-rated resources (books, courses, or expert videos)
- Set a timer for exactly one hour
- Skim these materials looking for repeated core concepts
- Write down the techniques that every expert emphasizes
But here’s the key: Stop researching after that hour. I’m serious. I’ve seen too many people fall into the trap of endless preparation, watching video after video, reading book after book, and never actually doing the thing they want to learn. Real progress comes from practicing the skill, not endless research or preparation.
4. Get rid of all distractions during your practice time
Willpower is overrated. The real key to learning any new skill is designing your environment so that practice becomes the default option.
One of my friends learned this the hard way when teaching himself to code. Initially, he kept his practice laptop in his office. Guess how many times he practiced after work? Almost never. Then he kept it on his kitchen counter, right where he ate breakfast. Suddenly, he was coding every morning with his coffee. This simple environmental change transformed his entire learning journey.
Make practicing your new skill ridiculously easy by:
- Keeping your tools visible and easily accessible when you want to practice.
- Setting up a dedicated practice space to keep yourself focused. This helps create a physical barrier between yourself and potential interruptions that might happen.
- Eliminating digital distractions during your practice time to maximize your progress.
Your environment either works for you or against you. This isn’t about being hardcore – it’s about being smart. Make practicing your skill the path of least resistance, and you’ll find yourself doing it automatically, which can speed up your learning rate for your new skill.
5. Use precommitment to stay on track
Honestly, the beginning of learning any new skill always sucks. You’ll feel awkward, frustrated, and tempted to quit. This is exactly why I recommend committing 20 hours of practice before making a decision on whether you should stick with your current skill, or to quit.
20 hours is long enough to see reasonable progress but short enough to feel doable. If you break it down, that’s just 45 minutes a day for about a month.
Here’s what typically happens during those 20 hours:
- Hours 1-4: You’ll probably feel lost and frustrated
- Hours 4-6: You start seeing the first signs of real progress
- Hours 15-20: You’ll be better than most people ever get
But here’s where most people mess up. They say things like, “I’ll practice when I have time” or “I’ll try to fit it in.” That’s a recipe for failure. Instead, do this right now: Pull out your calendar and block out exactly when you’ll practice. What are you going to stop doing or wake up earlier for? Make those decisions now, not when you’re tired and when Netflix is calling your name.
This 20-hour commitment also has a powerful psychological effect: It forces you to decide if this skill is a priority. If you’re not willing to commit 20 hours to learning something, be honest with yourself and drop it. That’s not failure – it’s smart prioritization.
After 20 hours, you’ll know whether you’re getting the results you wanted and whether it’s worth continuing. Sometimes 20 hours is all you need. Other times, it’s just the beginning of a deeper journey. Either way, you’ll make that decision from experience, not speculation.
How To Choose The Right Skill To Learn
People often ask me, “Ramit, how do I know what skill to learn first?” Let me share my framework for making this decision.
Start by looking at three key areas:
- Personal Interest: What are your interests and passions? What would you love to master even if no one paid you for it? The best skill to learn is often one that lights you up with excitement.
- Market Demand: Look at current market trends that show where the world is heading. Is there a growing demand for this skill? For example, AI development is exploding while traditional data entry is shrinking. You don’t need to monetize every skill, but why not pick something that could turn into a side hustle if you get good at it?
- Time ROI: Be realistic about your investment. If you want to learn piano purely for joy, great! But if you’re learning it hoping to make money, consider that becoming a professional pianist takes years of effort, which also involves passing many examinations. Could that time be better spent on something else instead?
Let me give you a real example: One of my students wanted to learn “business skills.” Again, like I mentioned above, that’s too vague. After digging deeper, we realized she needed a combination of public speaking (to pitch clients) and basic web design (to showcase her work). Suddenly, her learning path became crystal clear.
Here’s a starter list of high-impact skills that you can consider:
- How to speak or write a new language
- Learning basic graphic design
- Play a musical instrument or learn to sing
- Start your own business
- Get better at negotiation or public speaking
- Basic coding/programming skills that could help you break into the tech industry
- Improving your writing skills (especially persuasive writing)
- Fly an airplane (no harm in dreaming big)
Some of these skills are complementary. For instance, if you’re learning web design, you might naturally pick up some coding and visual design along the way. This creates a powerful skill stack that makes you uniquely valuable.
4 Major Barriers To Learning A New Skill
Let me show you the four biggest barriers to learning new skills, and more importantly, I’ll show you exactly how to overcome them.
Inability to commit
“I’ll learn Spanish someday.” “I want to learn photography eventually.” Sound familiar?
This vague commitment is worse than no commitment because it gives you the illusion of progress without requiring real action. It’s like saying you’ll “get in shape someday” while eating another slice of pizza.
The fix is simple but uncomfortable: Either commit to learning your new skill or admit it’s not a priority. Take out your calendar right now and block off specific practice times. If you’re unwilling to do that, be honest with yourself and drop it from your list. It’s better to consciously not commit to something than to make vague commitments you can’t follow through with.
Fear of getting started
Starting a new skill can be intimidating, which makes it perfectly normal to have self-doubt and to ask yourself questions like “what if I mess up?”, or “what if it’s too hard?”, or “what if I’m wasting my time?”.
Instead of self-flagellating, understand that this is your brain’s natural response to uncertainty—and that’s okay. Every time you start learning something new, you will become aware of the gaps in your knowledge which contribute to self-doubt and can be very uncomfortable especially if you’re just starting out.
The worst thing to do when you’re facing self-doubt is to give up before even trying. Here are a few tips to push past the initial fear of getting started.
- Break down your next steps into tiny, almost laughably easy chunks. Instead of “learn Spanish,” start with “learn how to say hello and goodbye in Spanish.”
- Make your first step so simple you can’t fail. If you’re learning photography, set a modest goal of taking one good picture every day using your phone. Don’t attach any judgment towards the first couple of pictures, but put in the repetitions to get better.
- Share your learning journey with friends or family. Tell them specifically what you’re trying to learn, and ask them to check in on your progress weekly. Learning a new skill doesn’t have to be lonely.
- Find success stories of people who started from zero in your chosen skill. Read about their early struggles and breakthroughs to get a better understanding of what they had to push through and the lessons they learned. Most of the time, there are many people who have learned the same skill as you’re trying to learn so it’s going to save you a lot of time by learning from their mistakes instead of having to slog through every difficult moment.
The fear of starting something new will always be present, but your small, consistent actions matter more than these temporary feelings of discomfort.
Lack of patience
Let me tell you about one of my students who started learning negotiation skills. After two practice conversations, she couldn’t come up with the right responses quickly enough, felt awkward asking for more money, and was ready to quit. “I’m just not cut out for negotiations,” she told me.
I asked her: “Would you expect someone to master tennis after two matches?” Of course not. Yet we beat ourselves up for not mastering complex social skills immediately.
This is why the 20-hour framework is so powerful. It helps you play the long game by setting realistic expectations. Instead of chasing the highlight reels you see on social media, focus on competing with your past self. Track your small wins. Celebrate tiny improvements. The goal isn’t to be perfect by day three—it’s to be slightly better than you were yesterday.
The framework gives you a clear finish line: 20 hours of deliberate practice. You’re not signing up for endless frustration. You’re committing to being a beginner for a specific period, knowing mastery comes through consistent, patient effort.
The trap of “perfectionism”
“I want to learn photography, but I’ll never be as good as Annie Leibovitz.”
“I want to learn coding, but I’m not smart enough to work at Google.”
Stop. Right. There.
This comparison trap is toxic because it sets an impossible standard. You don’t need to be world-class at something to get massive value from it. You don’t need to be Gordon Ramsay to cook delicious meals for your family. You don’t need to be Shakespeare to write effective business emails.
Focus on your goals instead of trying to reach an ideal. More often than not, the best and world-class individuals at their skills usually had talents and a set of fortunate circumstances which allowed them to be the best in their field. You probably don’t have the same talents or circumstances to replicate their achievements, so it wouldn’t make sense for you to mindlessly chase your ideals to be perfect.
Instead of aiming for perfection, think about how you can make consistent progress with your goals instead.
Expert Tips to Mastering Any New Skills
Mastering a new skill is as much about mindset as it is about technique. It’s easy to get discouraged when progress feels slow or obstacles arise, but how you approach these challenges makes all the difference. Instead of letting frustration hold you back, try to reframe the difficulties you face.
Don’t waste time whining
Do you know what’s the biggest waste of energy when learning something new? Complaining about how hard it is. That energy could be going into actual practice.
Instead of complaining about difficulties, focus your energy on breaking down what’s challenging you. When you encounter obstacles in your learning journey, analyze them systematically. If you’re struggling with language learning, identify the elements holding you back and address them individually. When programming concepts seem overwhelming, master one fundamental at a time before moving forward.
Every skill has a learning curve, and feeling frustrated is normal, especially when you get stuck. Instead of complaining about how stuck you feel, a more productive thing to do would be to break down exactly what’s blocking you from progressing. For example, if you’re not progressing in learning a new language, try a different approach, like using flash cards or researching how other language learners overcome this hurdle.
Or, if you hit a wall with some programming you’re trying to learn, you could google how other programmers worked around their set of code, too. Use other people’s mistakes and learning curves to speed up your progress.
Reframe your mindset: see obstacles as learning opportunities rather than setbacks.
Prepare to invest money into learning your new skil
Have you ever hesitated to click “purchase” on an online course or talked yourself out of buying that programming textbook? You’re not alone. The truth is, learning new skills isn’t just another expense on your monthly statement—it’s an investment in your future self, one that can yield returns far beyond the initial cost.
Many of us carry hidden beliefs about money—what financial psychologists call “money scripts“—that can secretly sabotage our growth. These deeply held beliefs might whisper things like:
- “I can’t afford to learn new skills,”
- “It’s too expensive to get started,”
- “I’ll wait until I have more money,”
- “What if I waste money on the wrong course?”
- “I can find everything for free online anyway,”
Here’s the truth: Learning new skills is an investment, not an expense. But that doesn’t mean you need to spend a fortune.
Start with free resources first:
- YouTube tutorials. These are usually the best place to start and will only need the investment of your time to begin.
- Public library resources. If you live close to a library and like going through books to learn, this is a good option, too.
As you utilize free resources, you’ll identify the gaps in your learning that could be filled by investing in paid material. I suggest creating a small learning budget for yourself every month. It doesn’t have to be huge; sometimes, a $20-$50/month subscription to premium courses can be a good first step. Ultimately, prioritize what will give you the biggest impact.
Money scripts can sneak into all areas of life, including skill acquisition. If you’ve ever hesitated to invest in a course or felt anxious about spending money on personal growth, that’s your money script holding you back.
In a podcast episode with Fernando and Anushka, a couple earning high salaries, we talked about how Fernando’s anxiety around money—rooted in childhood—made him see investing as a risk, almost like gambling. This mindset affected everything from everyday decisions to bigger financial moves.
[00:06:37] Ramit: Fernando, when you get those monthly reports, what do you feel? Not what do you think, but what do you feel when you get–
[00:06:48] Fernando: Anxiety. Mad anxiety. Just childhood trauma related to money. Money is just the scariest thing to me.
[00:06:55] Ramit: Okay. So do you feel that when you have to make a purchase decision?
[00:07:01] Fernando: Oh yeah, all the time.
[00:07:02] Ramit: How about when you hear people talking about investing, or buying a house, or even traveling? You feel that same anxiety?
[00:07:13] Fernando: Generally, when it comes to taking a trip or something like that, I don’t have that kind of anxiety, but I do have that anxiety when it comes to something like gambling. I don’t gamble at all because, in my mind, you are just a few steps away from losing everything. Again, I understand, it’s a moderation thing, but I don’t want to cross that line.
[00:07:32] I don’t want to put myself or my family in that kind of situation. And I think another reason that I have a lot of anxiety with money is because Anushka helps me support my family in Michigan. That is a part of the budget. A lot of my monthly income goes towards making sure that they’re fine.
Fernando’s anxiety shows how deeply our beliefs about money can shape how we approach finances and life decisions. Whether making simple purchases or considering long-term investments, these old money scripts influence everything. And while they may seem harmless, they can create serious barriers to growth.
[00:32:42] Anushka: No. It’s like the fact that he remembered that the change of Reese’s price of when he was 10. That is shocking to me that he remembered when it went from 50 cents to 75 cents. It’s the same thing. I think he still has this arbitrary number in his head that he can’t go over, but we make so much money, so much more than his family made when he was 10.
[00:33:08] Ramit: You were roughly in seventh or eighth grade. You had to help start taking over with the family finances, Fernando, but you said something so interesting. You said, I wanted to extricate myself from the family or relieve them of having to pay for me. Fernando, that sounds like you considered yourself a burden to your family?
[00:33:33] Fernando: Yeah. From a financial perspective, I did. Coming from– I lived in like, Sri Lanka, Kuwait, Canada– countries where college is pretty much paid or there’s certain safety nets for you, when I finally got to junior year and I’m applying to college, I’m like, so dad, how much money do you have saved? It was literally one conversation. And he’s like, what do you mean? I was like, how am I going to get it? He’s like, you need to get a full ride. And I was like, oh, sick.
Fernando’s story perfectly shows how old patterns can affect new opportunities. Whether you’re learning a new skill or taking control of your financial life, recognizing these limiting beliefs is the first step to breaking free. Once you recognize them, you can focus on taking action and building new skills.
Leverage technology to help you learn a new skill
Let me show you how to use technology to accelerate your learning – and avoid the common traps most people fall into.
As I mentioned above, YouTube has some incredible free tutorials. Coursera and edX offer university-level courses. Udemy offers practical, skill-specific training. The key isn’t which platform you choose—it’s picking one and following through instead of platform-hopping.
Your phone can also be a huge leverage to learning your new skill, as long as you don’t let it distract you from your goals. Here are a few ways how:
- Look into mobile apps for on-the-go learning. For example, Duolingo and Babbel are popular language-learning apps. You can hop on fast instead of scrolling through your feed, practice with them during a long commute, or use them for a few minutes after dinner.
- Try apps designed for quick learning bursts. Instead of checking social media between tasks, use apps like Anki or Quizlet to review key concepts or practice for 5-10 minutes.
- Join learning communities. Facebook groups dedicated to your specific skill, Reddit communities where beginners help each other overcome common obstacles, and topic-specific Discord servers are filled with people tackling the same challenges. These spaces are perfect for troubleshooting problems, finding study partners, and staying motivated through shared experiences.
AI learning tools are transforming how we learn new skills. Language apps like ChatGPT can help you practice conversations, GitHub Copilot can guide you through coding challenges, and smart vocabulary apps like Anki use spaced repetition to help you remember what you’ve learned.
These tools are available 24/7 on your phone, ready to help you practice during lunch breaks, commutes, or whenever you have a few spare minutes. You just need to make the consistent effort to use these apps on your phone in order to maximize your spare time when learning your new skill.
Embrace the mindset of continuous learning
Continuous learning goes beyond mastering just one skill. It’s about developing a growth mindset that makes every future skill easier to overcome. This mindset drives both personal and professional growth, building your curiosity and resilience along the way.
Here’s what this looks like in practice:
- Every month, spend a few minutes reflecting on what’s working and what isn’t in your journey to learning your new skill.
- Ask for brutal feedback from people who’ve mastered your target skill, or look at how people you look up to have advanced beyond their skill(s).
- Piece together how each skill connects to others in unexpected ways. Can any of these new connections increase your speed or skill mastery?
- Once you’ve mastered the basics, challenge yourself with advanced courses, technical documentation, or real-world projects that require problem-solving beyond tutorial guidance.
The most successful learners don’t stop when they hit a plateau. Instead, they see it as a chance to dig deeper and refine their understanding. They seek out mentors, explore related skills, and constantly look for ways to strengthen their foundation.
Practice a lot
Learning about a skill isn’t the same as developing it. You won’t become a guitarist by watching guitar videos, a photographer by browsing photography courses, or a master negotiator by watching my video, How to Negotiate a $10,000+ Raise, alone. The only path to mastery is through deliberate practice.
Deliberate practice means having a clear focus for each session. A negotiator might spend one session eliminating filler words, while a photographer might dedicate an entire week to understanding lighting. This targeted approach helps you master complex skills one piece at a time.
Make your deliberate practice automatic by creating simple systems:
- Block off the same time each day for practice to help you get into a consistent rhythm.
- Set up a dedicated space for your skill development to block out any possible interruptions.
- Keep a basic progress log to track your improvements. This will be helpful for you to look back on days where you feel like you’re lagging behind. Always compare yourself to the past versions of yourself.
Remember that consistency matters more than intensity. Regular 30-minute practice sessions will take you further than the occasional marathon sessions when you feel ‘motivated’ to practice. Show up even on the days when you don’t feel like it, and when practice becomes as routine as brushing your teeth, progress in your skill will follow naturally.
It’s one of the best things I’ve published (and 100% free), just tell me where to send it:
