Learn by Doing | The Only Way to Be a True “Expert”

I’ve toyed with this idea for a long time. There are plenty of places in which you may have heard it. Gary Vaynerchuk is a famous speaker and marketing “guru” that I have followed for many years and he often says: “be a practitioner of your craft”.

The idea of being ultra-talented at something has fascinated me since I was a kid. I grew up on video games and naturally, I followed Esports (albeit, kind of loosely). I realized after a few years of watching Esports occasionally that it wasn’t the game itself that mattered to me. I could watch people play anything and as soon as I understood the game mechanics and the skills involved, I would be hooked.

The quality that attracted me to things like Esports or MMA or Investing was talent. Whenever I see a world-class performer perform at the top level of skill in their respective field, it gives me goosebumps. I love watching it and am always fascinated to try and figure out their process. Maybe this is something I picked up from years of listening to Tim Ferriss’s Podcast, but I had hints of this since I was just a little kid watching movies or playing video games.

When someone is a world-class performer, what they do often seems like magic. David Blaine is another great example — how the hell does he do the things he does? He does them because he is world-class at learning weird skills that are completely outside of the box.

How do investors like Warren Buffett or Ray Dalio have such long track records of being incredibly good at picking/leading great companies and teams? By doing.

What separates these incredible individuals from the rest of the world is their ability to learn new skills and adapt to ever-changing landscapes. I recognized this when I was still in high school and was just beginning to tip my toes in the world of podcasts, books and skill acquisition.

In high school, I became obsessed with learning. Ironically, the more obsessed I became with learning, the worse I did in school. My grades declined and I made it to graduation by the skin of my teeth (and alternative assignments for the extra credit I needed to pass).

I realized back then that learning wasn’t about sitting in class and bearing the brunt of a boring lecture regarding a topic that was of little-to-no interest and certainly little relevance to what I wanted to do with my life. What I found out was that to be the best at what you love doing simply means doing it.

A skill that I have been working on since then has been investing. Investing in all forms of the word. Trading options. Picking stocks. Making long-term bets. Investing in businesses. Finding worthy crypto projects. There are a million ways to invest, but the core traits of a great investor are the very same core traits of any other world-class performer: ability to learn new skills and adapt to ever-changing landscapes.

Crypto has been my latest obsession, which has taken over the last 3+ years of my life. Back when I discovered Bitcoin and eventually Ethereum, STEEM and a few other projects that I like, I realized that my life would never be the same.

Many people wonder how you can learn about crypto and prepare yourself for the “revolution” that everyone in crypto seems to talk about. I’ve said this before in a post from who knows how long ago: the best way to learn about crypto is to use crypto.

If you want to learn about Bitcoin, blockchain and it’s potential applications, then you need to start using it. Dip your toes in and then continually expand your range of skills in the space. Start small and build for the long-haul.

One of the first things I remember doing when I got started in Bitcoin was download a paper wallet and try buying & transferring a tiny amount of Bitcoin to it. I think it was about $20 that I sent to this wallet. Obviously, I wasn’t going to get rich from sending $20 to a paper wallet. In fact, the most likely outcome was for me to lose that $20. The goal was not to make money.. it was to become a practitioner in the crypto space.

If I wanted to understand crypto at a deep level, be able to apply it in my own life and also teach other people about it, then I would need to first and foremost be an actual user of cryptocurrencies. That meant starting small with a Bitcoin paper wallet and working my way up to using various other cryptocurrencies, means of storage, exchanges, technologies and everything else that encompasses a lifestyle that is integrated with crypto.

I’m a long way off of being any sort of “expert” in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. The point is that I have a rational path to growing my own skills in the space. Every single day when I wake up and log in to Steem, crypto exchanges, hardware wallets, paper wallets, etc. I am taking one more step along the never-ending path of being a cryptocurrency practitioner who understands the technology and is able to adapt to ever-changing landscapes.

What’s the most recent skill or piece of knowledge that you’ve acquired in the crypto arena?

My most recent has been reading/studying the Mimblewimble protocol.