If you want to teach yourself anything, taking the first step is the most important thing. Here’s the secret, there are plenty ‘How to teach yourself anything’ resources available online most of them are totally free, but 70% of them can confuse you and lock you up at the same position for a long time.
Here’s the thing, whether you are looking for a new career path, or you just have the curiosity to acquire more knowledge just like the rest of us, all you need is your desire and the passion to succeed.
To help you out of the confusion, here are the best steps to take if you want to teach yourself anything.
Table of Contents
The Best Ways to Teach Yourself Anything
1. Identify what you want to learn
The number one challenge most beginner face is the problem of choice. Take for instance you want to be a Web Programer and you don’t know anything about programming language. And you decide to search for “the best language to learn for web programming” let’s say the search return the following as the best language to learn for web programming: Python, Java, JavaScript, C++, and C#. The number one thing you should do is to decide on which language to go for and start learning immediately. It’s help if you can focus on developing yourself in one of the languages first before jumping to the next one
2. Identify your starting point
Your starting point can be researching more about the language, for instance; identifying web application that was built by the language, or looking for available free and paid resources that can guide you in the learning process. Either way, the result you get you inspire the steps you will take after that.
3. Find a Mentor.
A mentor is like a guide, someone you can look up to for ideas, knowledge and support. You don’t necessarily need to meet your mentor, you may follow his Youtube Channel or personal blog to get yourself up to date on his ideas and activities, this will really inspire your learning process.
4. Know your weakness
Before attempting to teach yourself anything new, identify and know your weakness first on that area. If possible, list them out and develop a work plan and how to use them to your advantage. Your weakness can be lack of time, lack of money to go for paid resources, or anything else. Whatever it is, develop a work plan that will help you stay on top of the situation.
5. Start and Focus on the learning Process
When I started learning Python Programming language, the first material I picked out of the 20 i penciled down was Automate the boring stuff by Al Sweigart, It was a free material but the hands-on-practical was fun and it’s build my confidence and understanding of the language. I was focused on the process, i follow through all the practicals, though it didn’t cover everything but it was a good starting point for me.
The only way to assist yourself, is to identify a resources and follow through it. Don’t be distracted by other materials, once you picked up a material, ensure you finished it before going on to the next one.
6. Watch a lot of Videos
Anything you decide to learn, after getting some practical materials, make sure you watch a lot of videos, sometimes it good to watch how it’s done than to read about how it’s done, there are millions of free resources on anything you wish to learn on Youtube. Make it part of your routine and you will enjoy the learning process.
7. Start working on your project
The best way to do something is to do it. Ensure you practice what you learn on the go and if you have any challenges along the way, you can always google them to get help, information and assistance.