The First | 20 Hours Book

This is the actual secret. Kaufman literally kept a timer on his desk. He forced himself to hit 20 hours on a variety of skills (yoga, programming, touch-typing, the ukulele) before he allowed himself to judge his progress.

That’s where Josh Kaufman’s brilliant book, , comes in. And his message is incredibly liberating: You can go from knowing nothing to being surprisingly good at almost any new skill in just 20 hours of focused practice. the first 20 hours book

We want to play a few songs on guitar without sounding like a dying cat. We want to hold a basic conversation in Spanish. We want to cook a decent stir-fry or hit a tennis ball over the net. This is the actual secret

Kaufman argues that what looks like talent is often just the result of the first few hours of smart, deliberate practice. The real barrier to learning isn’t a lack of aptitude; it’s the emotional wall of feeling stupid. The first few hours of any new skill are frustrating. You are clumsy. You make mistakes. Most people quit right here. That’s where Josh Kaufman’s brilliant book, , comes in

Break the skill into the smallest possible pieces. Most things we want to learn (like a sport, an instrument, or coding) are actually bundles of smaller sub-skills. Ask yourself: What are the absolute core components I need to learn first?