You Shouldn't Always Learn from Others

The Twittersphere offers floods of ways to learn from others. Valuable skills are open-sourced in online articles, Twitter threads, and "How-To" clips. How many of these Tweetstorms have you seen lately: "Seven copywriting secrets" or "98% of people are BLIND to these marketing hacks!" You can build skills and grow a six-figure income, all from viral threads and some Gumroad guides.

This is a useful trend worth celebrating. Gatekeepers no longer hoard knowledge. Wifi and work ethic offer free avenues to a better life.

But learning from others has its limits. Here's a story: In my free time I'm pursuing fluent Chinese. When work isn't busy, I study five hours per day. Few things make me happier. Recently I hit play on a new podcast: The "I'm Learning Mandarin" show. Chinese-speaking guests share their language-learning secrets. What a chance to learn from others!

The first guest talked about working and living in China. His twenties were spent on trains and buses, criss-crossing the Chinese countryside, chatting with locals at noodle shops and coffee stands. All told, he'd lived in China for close to a decade, and he still wasn't fully fluent.

As I listened, pangs of doubt rippled through my mind. This guy lived in China for a DECADE and he still doesn't speak fluent Chinese. You only lived there for a few months in college. You have no chance! You'll never become fluent. Studying Chinese is hopeless.

Comparison. That familiar thief of joy, this time podcast-induced. My attempt to learn study tips from an expert instead whacked my self-confidence at the kneecaps.

To kickstart a skill or enter a new industry, you should learn from others. But I'm not a beginner. I've studied Chinese for thousands of hours over nearly ten years. At this point, my personal language-learning process matters more than secondhand advice. At this point, I am an expert. I don't need tricks and tips – I need to forge my own unique path forward, using my own instincts as my guide.

Learning from experts is valuable – others' advice can set your sails and start your journey. But keep note of your span from shore. Sail long enough and you'll enter waters unmapped by others. On distant seas you don't need a helper. Close your manual. Silence your Twitter. Turn and face the horizon. Feel the spray on your skin. Steer confidently by the starlight above and your own internal sun. Savor the silence as you press on alone.