Rachel Graves Alsop’s Reviews > The Art of Self-Directed Learning: 23 Tips for Giving Yourself an Unconventional Education > Status Update

thinking hard about what’s most important in your life, figuring out exactly how much that costs, and then reducing the amount of time you work, ultimately creating more time for friends, family, travel, adventure, and self-directed learning. Time is money, but that doesn’t mean you need to make more money to have more free time.

During deliberate practice: you know exactly what you want to achieve, it nudges you past current skill level, it’s repeatable, performance feedback is constantly available, it’s mentally demanding, and it is strenuous.

Every job is an opportunity to develop perseverance, work ethic, and focus.

Creating convos:
R-reflective listening
O-open ended questions
P-personal statements
E-experiences-do something together!

The best teachers teach meta-learning skills like how to:
Give and take feedback
Speak in front of people
Tell a powerful story
Write something that people actually want to read
Lead a group
Follow in a group
Make a decent movie, website, or photograph
Live on a budget
Spot logical fallacies in an argument
Meet and converse with anyone
Set a goal and follow through on it

Nerds bond quickly with other nerds because they choose to focus on building stuff, learning stuff, and otherwise “nerding out” rather than clawing up a social hierarchy.

Caring deeply is a fast track to making friends.

Create a space to work alone, together in a single space.

I can’t I could if I
I should I choose to
I don’t know I’ll find out
I wish I’ll make a plan
I hate I prefer
I have to I get to

every time you said “I can’t,” you were making a choice. Because instead of saying “I can’t,” the instructors gently reminded time and time again, we could say a different phrase: “I could if I.”