“Fools say that they learn by experience. I prefer to profit by others experience.”
Otto von Bismarck
If you are looking for strategies on how to learn anything faster, look no further. There is a way to replicate any skill from anyone with little effort.
When someone possesses a specific skill, that skill contain techniques that are buried deep within the subconscious mind.
All you need is to find someone who excels in the skill that you want to acquire. Then, observe and mimic that person’s physiology and mindset.
Having the technique on how to learn anything faster, it’s like if you have a magic wand. If you have this magic wand, you can duplicate the abilities and achievements of anyone you want.
What is ONE skill in which you would like to excel in? Is there a role model that you aspire to be like?
This is a technique based on the following principle:
By studying and replicating a successful person’s thinking, anyone can achieve similar results.
This means that you can also duplicate someone else’s success and accomplishments by adopting their beliefs, physiology, and cognitive processes.
Isn’t this awesome?
I’m sure you’re thinking of a few specific skills you’d like to master in your lifetime right now.
This strategy, known as “modelling excellence,” originates from the Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)* playbook. It is based on the behavioral learning strategies you used as a kid.
Unfortunately, as we grow older, most of us lose those abilities.
The idea of NLP modeling is to find someone (a role model) who is exceptionally good at something. Then observe and emulate them like a child.
Any profession, including business, sports, sales, training, relationships, health, sports, business, sales, education, and parenting, can provide a role model.
Once you’ve duplicated his or her results, you can teach this skill to others. This, in turn, will reinforce your learning.
In short, NLP modelling is the process of recreating excellence.
* NLP is a psychological technique for influencing your brain’s (Neuro) processing of the words you use (Linguistic) and how that impacts your past, present, and future (Programming).
For anyone to become extremely competent at something, it takes time and it does not happen overnight. People who succeed at something have developed systems and strategies that allow them to achieve great success.
They have been studying and employing their strategies for quite some time. It often takes years of trial and error for someone to master their craft.
To attain mastery, they have put in the effort and established a plan that consistently works. By adopting their beliefs, physiology, and mental processes, you can acquire their skills almost instantly.
If this is so deceptively simple, why doesn’t everyone do it?
Most people who excel at something have no idea how they achieve such high levels of success. This is due to the fact that it has become an automatic process for them.
Even if they want to help you achieve the same level of success, they are unsure where to begin.
This is where the technique of modelling excellence comes into play. Modelling skills allow you to find and organize the plan of action that led to their outcomes.
Modeling excellence is your answer to how to learn anything faster.
Do you have someone in mind who you want to emulate if you want to learn a new skill set? For the sake of clarity, let’s just refer to this person you hope to mimic as “the role model.”
You must identify and duplicate the following in order to imitate the skill or effective performance of another person:
What did the person do that led to his or her success?
What are his or her fundamental beliefs and what motivates him or her?
What state of mind did this person possess that helped him or her achieve the intended outcome?
Before you begin, keep in mind that the purpose of modeling is to adopt successful behaviors. It is not to become a carbon copy of someone else.
I have broken down the approach to how to learn anything faster into three simple steps. These steps will help you unlock and master the abilities and beliefs of the person you want to copy.
It could be from any field (business, sports, leadership, etc.) as long as it is someone whose success and achievements you want to emulate.
Choose someone who consistently produces excellent outcomes and who can consistently give you the results you desire, time after time. It may be your favorite sportsperson, dancer, yoga instructor, or co-worker who is a top-notch coder.
If you are a basketball player looking to improve your three-point shooting, Steph Curry could be the ideal role model.
In short, focus on the “what”, “why” and “how” they do it.
Direct observation provides us with the “what.” By asking the right questions, you can learn “how” and “why.”
Some questions you might want to ask are:
During this phase, you need to keenly observe your role model. The focus is on what the person says, does, and, most importantly, what internal thinking strategies he or she employs to excel at what he or she does.
If you don’t have access to your role model, look for secondary materials such as books, transcripts, and films.
For example, if you want to be a martial artist like Bruce Lee, there are numerous resources available.
Have an in-depth understanding of your role model’s behavioral pattern. Then internalize those patterns into your subconscious mind.
There is a lot to take in from the two sentences above. Let me try to break it down for you so that you can grasp the notion. Unfortunately, to learn how to model behavior and accelerate your way to success, there is no easy way out.
Let’s define the behavioral pattern. A pattern is a step-by-step process that achieves a certain outcome.
Have an in-depth understanding of your role model’s behavioral pattern. Then internalize those patterns into your subconscious mind.
There is a lot to take in from the two sentences above. Let me try to break it down for you so that you can grasp the notion. Unfortunately, to learn how to model behavior and accelerate your way to success, there is no easy way out.
Let’s define the behavioral pattern. A pattern is a step-by-step process that achieves a certain outcome. You can replicate your role model’s technique to attain the same result.
To do so, you must comprehend how that person performs a task. Visualize yourself in the shoes of your role model to internalize those behavioral habits.
Then, through repeated imitation and repetition, they acquire the person’s behavioral habits.
Physiology and psychology are the two pillars that form a powerful framework for modelling excellence.
These pillars will help you incorporate your role model’s mindset into your subconscious mind. Pay close attention to them.
Physiology is the scientific study of the human body. This encompasses our physical appearance, health, posture and demeanor, gestures, facial expressions, respiration, and even our voice.
The best way to begin modelling is by observing your role model’s physiology. Let’s pretend you want to be as good at three-point shooting as Steph Curry.
Breaking down Curry’s shooting form, you’ll find that he maintains proper alignment of his shooting shoulder, elbow, and hip. His shoulder is squarely behind his elbow and in line with his hip, as can be seen.
The ball is kept above his shooting eye by his forearm being slightly angled away from this line.
These are some of the things you’ll need to remember and internalize if you want to be like Steph.
Pay attention to every bodily action of the person you’re trying to replicate. From posture to gestures to breathing.
What are their movements like? How did they make their gestures? What were their gazes fixed on? How did they manage to stay in peak condition? What were their facial expressions like?
Psychology is an essential element in modelling. Tap into your role model’s attitude, beliefs, values, fears, likes, and dislikes. And if accessible, internal dialogue.
This includes thoughts and emotions. And how the brain uses language to generate and develop actual experiences.
Internal dialogue is when you “hear” yourself talking in your head without really speaking and forming sounds.
Robert Dilts, a coach in the field of NLP, discusses the thinking strategies of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:
“Mozart’s incredible abilities were not just some mystical, magical fluke, but rather the product of some very concrete and highly developed cognitive abilities that can be understood and even replicated by the average person.”
In his book, Strategies of Genius, Dilts described how he was able to access Mozart’s creative process from a letter he wrote in 1789:
“When I am, as it were, completely myself, entirely alone, and of good cheer – say, traveling in a carriage, or walking after a good meal, or during the night when I cannot sleep; it is on such occasions that my ideas flow best and most abundantly.”
Mozart described his emotional and psychological state, which inspired him to compose music.
For him, three psychological factors contributed to his musical inspirations:
If you wish to access Mozart’s outstanding creative powers as a musician, you should use some of his psychological strategies.
The majority of exceptional performers have a strategy in place to help them achieve their objectives. They’ve honed their art and performance to the point where it’s second nature to them.
As a result, many of their tactics are ingrained in their subconscious thoughts.
You can duplicate the results of someone you want to emulate if you can identify their unconscious techniques.
So, how long does it take you to replicate the results of the person you want to be like? It all depends on the difficulty level of the skill you’re striving to acquire.
It could take minutes, hours, days, weeks, months or even years. When you consistently produce results similar to those of your role model, you’ve unconsciously merged their qualities into your own.
Practice is the key to successful modelling. Find a safe environment where you can practice your newly acquired skills on a regular basis.
One important thing to remember about modeling is that anyone who is dedicated to modeling perfection can achieve it. As long as no biological constraints exist.
The only caveat to modelling excellence is, as Joseph O’Connor explained in his book, Leading With NLP:
“You can never get exactly the same results as the person you model, because everyone is different, each learner will assemble the modelled elements in their own unique way. Modelling does not create clones – it gives you the opportunity to go beyond your present limitations.”
A model is just a duplicate of the original, and therefore it can never be completely accurate.
Transferring what you’ve learnt to someone else is the final and possibly most critical stage in modelling greatness. Teaching your newly acquired skill to another individual has two unique advantages.
It proves that your modelling strategy is effective. The second advantage is that teaching others makes you better, stronger, and more competent.
In order to properly transfer your newly acquired talents, you need all of the key elements of this skill. And you must have internalized your role model’s behavioral patterns as well.
You must be capable of transferring it. If the person can provide results that are comparable to those of your role model, the initiative is a success.
Once you’ve mastered it, it will become your ultimate life hack, one that will consistently increase your success.
DISCLOSURE: In my article, I’ve mentioned a few products and services, all in a valiant attempt to turbocharge your life. Some of them are affiliate links. This is basically my not-so-secret way of saying, “Hey, be a superhero and click on these links.” When you joyfully tap and spend, I’ll be showered with some shiny coins, and the best part? It won’t cost you an extra dime, not even a single chocolate chip. Your kind support through these affiliate escapades ensures I can keep publishing these useful (and did I mention free?) articles for you in the future.
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