Learn HOW to learn before you start. I got good grades in school and was considered smart by standardized testing. It wasn’t until I read from the great minds that I realized my entire self measurement was wrong. It is called the Dunning-Kruger effect. If you do not know what that is, look it up and if you happen to be in full “effect” then you are in a good place because now you know and can do something about it. *NOTE – All my recommendations are personal and I don’t get a nickel to do so.
Those old methods you used in school to cram the night before a test and summarily forgot all of it is not going to cut it. *DO NOT BUY the recommended materials from Amazon and preferably not from a big box store. There are countless smaller businesses that can use your dollars or get it from your local library.
Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning
“But I know how to read!” Yes, you can read the words and understand the gist of what is crossing your eyes and forget the next day but this is reading with a purpose and to “own” the information. I have 2 suggestions. The first is a quick article to give you the minimum effective dose and the second is the full treatment of next level understanding.
why-settle-for-merely-reading-a-book-when-you-can-master-it?
How to read a book – by Mortimer J. Adler
Link to a 1 minute read with links to free logic resources:
That just doesn’t sound right.
Just 3 steps? Yes. Those 3 steps will take a while but it will open your eyes to the level of ignorance that you have personally operated in (from personal experience). If you apply the principles above to ANY future learning or problem, you will now have the tools to address it in a whole new way. Instead of solely reading from the great thinkers, become one.