Learn Skills Faster

(The DiSSS Method by Tim Ferriss)

Author

Rich Waller
October 01, 2023

Learning in the 21st Century is f*cked

When you set sail to learn a new:

  • Skill

  • Method

  • System

You’re overwhelmed with info.

Spending 90% of your time researching, instead of taking action.

We’ve been conditioned to:

Research ➡️ Theorise ➡️ Apply.

Imagine if birds learnt to fly this way???

"Sorry Mom, can't leave the nest yet, haven't finished learning about flapping my wings" ~ Baby Bird

99% of schools, universities and personal development books “teach” this way - lecturing birds how to fly (H/T Nassim Taleb).

So how can you do 90% less research, make a ton more progress, achieve 10X more and save 100’s of hours and 1000’s of dollars?

I’ll tell you.

Spend 90% of your time practising and 10% learning.

Cool story bro, that’s obvious…

Fine, here’s how to spend 10% of your time learning and 90% practising:

The DiSSS Method by Tim Ferriss

(Deconstruction, Selection, Sequencing and Stakes)

It helps you:

  • break down complex skills

  • identify the few impactful practices

  • organises them in a logical sequence

  • and incorporates accountability measures

Accelerating your progress.

But the DiSSS method is missing one thing...

I call it the FLiP Filter.

It's saved me hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars whilst I've been researching:

  • blogs

  • books

  • articles

  • YouTube

  • and courses

What is the FLiP Filter?

I’ve combined 3 age-old principles to help me when I’m lost in a sea of information.

Always FLiP the information:

  • First Principles - breaking complex situations or ideas into their fundamental elements or principles.

  • Lindy Effect - the longer something has already existed, the longer it is likely to continue existing into the future.

  • Pareto Principle - 80% of the effects come from 20% of causes or inputs.

So let’s dive into the DiSSS method, FLiP Filter and valuable GPT prompts you can steal to speed up your skill mastery!

How to DiSSS:

Deconstruction:

  • Identify the skill you want to learn or improve upon.

  • Break down the skill into its core components, actions, and knowledge areas.

  • Ask yourself: What are the essential elements that contribute to proficiency in this skill?

  • Identify why you might fail before you start, why you might quit and why others have failed - AVOID THESE!

Selection:

  • Determine which components or actions are the most critical and have the highest impact on skill acquisition or mastery.

  • Apply the 80/20 rule: Identify the 20% of actions or components that yield 80% of the desired results.

  • Focus on those key components to maximise your learning efficiency.

Sequencing:

  • Determine a good enough order for learning the selected components.

  • Look at what would happen if you learnt them in reverse.

Stakes:

  • Practice with no stakes to build competence.

  • Incorporate an incentive (reward).

  • Make it clear to yourself what the motivation behind learning this skill is. Is it curiosity, a passion project, a love of the craft etc?

  • What stakes can you implement to ensure accountability when you are weak and don’t feel like doing anything?

Competence Journey

  • Incorporate an incentive (reward).

  • Make it clear to yourself what the motivation behind learning this skill is. Is it curiosity, a passion project, a love of the craft etc?

  • What stakes can you implement to ensure accountability when you are weak and don’t feel like doing anything?

GPT Prompts to Accelerate the DiSSS Method

Deconstruction:

  • What is the ultimate goal of [skill X]?

  • Acting as a world-class expert in [skill X], why might I fail before I start, why might I quit and how do people fail at this skill?

  • How can I avoid these?

  • What are the essential elements that contribute to proficiency in this skill?

  • Acting as a world-class expert in [skill X], break down the skill into its core components, actions, and knowledge areas.

Selection:

  • Acting as a world-class expert in [skill X] and using the 80/20 rule, identify the 20% of actions or components that yield 80% of the desired results.

  • Prioritise the 20% of components of [skill X] with a strong historical track record of effectiveness and have shown long-term utility using the Lindy Effect.

  • Give preference to the components that have demonstrated longevity and relevance rather than those that are new or trendy.

  • Acting as a world-class expert in [skill X], what simple habits and environment design changes can I implement to action the 20% of actions?

  • Using Nassim Taleb’s via negativa* approach, what should I not do whilst experimenting and practising [skill X]?

  • Give me a list of books, YouTube videos and courses that will help me learn how to become a master at [skill X].

  • Apply the Lindy effect and 80/20 law to these resources you've given above - which should I focus on with my limited time?

Sequencing:

  • As a world-class expert in [skill X] teach me the optimal order for practising the selected components.

  • Give me an alternative order that doesn’t follow the typical route.

  • What prerequisites or dependencies among the components should I be aware of?

  • Acting as a world-class [insert job role tied to skill e.g marketer for marketing] and mentor, define a learning path I can follow for [list the 20% actions/components] to build my foundational elements moving towards the more complex.

  • Break down the learning process into smaller milestones or steps.

It’s time to let go of your Google comfort blanket and exchange research for experimentation.

Birds learn to fly by jumping beak first.

You can too.

Good luck!

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