4 Hour Chef Flashcards
Failure Points
try to ask why people most commonly fail, what are the mistakes that are made again and again
How to Breakdown Mastery
Describe what you want to know, do or accomplish, then list the competencies required, what you need to learn and where you can find the knowledge or skill, then work to get it.
How VS What
what you study is more important than how you study.
Students are subordinate to materials, much like novice cooks are subordinate to recipes. If you select the wrong material, the wrong textbook, the wrong group of words, it doesn’t matter how much (or how well) you study. It doesn’t matter how good your teacher is. One must find the highest-frequency material.
Key to Accelerated Learning: DSSS
Deconstruction
Selection
Sequencing
Stakes
CFE
Compression
Frequency
Encoding
Questions for your Method
“Is the method effective? Have you narrowed down your material to the highest frequency?
Is the method sustainable? Have you chosen a schedule and subject matter that you can stick with (or at least put up with) until reaching fluency? Will you actually swallow the pill you’ve prescribed yourself?”
Deconstruction
What are the minimal learnable units, the lego blocks I should be starting with
“First and foremost, it is where we answer the question: how do I break this amorphous “skill” into small, manageable pieces?”
Reducing:
breaking down the underlying larger breakdowns for the skill
Layering knowledge is important, finding out how it changes and interacts in other situations.
Isolate the basic molecular units. the most basic version.
Deconstruction: Interview
Make contact and provide context. Interview must benefit the contact. freelance the article out.
Ask your questions:
“Who is good at ultra-running despite being poorly built for it? Who’s good at this who shouldn’t be?”
“Who are the most controversial or unorthodox runners or trainers? Why? What do you think of them?”
“Who are the most impressive lesser-known teachers?”
“What makes you different? Who trained you or influenced you?”
“Have you trained others to do this? Have they replicated your results?”
“What are the biggest mistakes and myths you see in ultra-running training? What are the biggest wastes of time?”
“What are your favorite instructional books or resources on the subject? If people had to teach themselves, what would you suggest they use?
“If you were to train me for four weeks for a [fill in the blank] competition and had a million dollars on the line, what would the training look like? What if I trained for eight weeks?”
“First, what are the biggest mistakes novices make when shooting or practicing shooting? What are the biggest misuses of time?
Even at the pro level, what mistakes are most common?
What are your key principles for better, more consistent shooting? What are they for foul shots (free throws) vs. 3-pointers?
What does the progression of exercises look like?
Deconstruction: Reversal
find the contrary example for how to do something, deconstruct the skill or find another way of looking at it by approaching it backwards
Selection
Which 20 percent of the blocks should I focus on for 80 percent or more of the outcomes I want. Minimum effective dose.
“Do as little as is needed, not as much as possible”
to breakdown a skill isolate the most important aspects that do outsize work and focus on them first, ordered in such a way that you get early wins which can boost confidence.
Selection: Language Example
What you need to remember: 100 well-selected words give you 50% of the practical use of 171,476 words.
So, do you work from A to Z through 250,000 words over 25+ years, or do you master this high-frequency 100-word list in less than a week, then decide on next steps? Clearly, you do the second.”
Sequencing
In what order should I learn the blocks
Logically sequencing the blocks of a skill can make it greater than the sum of its parts.
The macro principles that can be divined by organizing the practice in certain ways.
Sequencing Examples
Make the implicit of expertise explicit. find out what they do in common, try to codify it.
- What are commonalities among the best competitors?
- Which of these aren’t being actively taught (i.e., implicit) in most classes?
- Which neglected skills (answers to #2) could I get good at abnormally quickly
Stakes
How do I set up stakes, real consequences and guarantee i follow the program?
Use the stick and carrot on yourself. Build in rewards, keep yourself honest, measure your progress objectively
Seneca Quote
“It’s not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It’s because we dare not venture that they are difficult.”