The Fastest Way to Learn Any New Skill

Accelerate & maximize your learning with the science-based Blueprint Method.

I can remember the exact moment that I discovered the Blueprint Method.

After that, everything changed. I learned it, of all places, from Tony Robbins.

You know Tony Robbins. He’s the guy with the giant teeth that you’ve seen on info commercials for the last 20+ years. Yeah, that Tony Robbins.

He bills himself as a peak performance coach, although many other people call him a motivational speaker. He holds some of the best conferences in the world and his A-List clients include former presidents, sports legends, and Hollywood celebrities.

I like how he lays out success:

“Success leaves clues.” — Tony Robbins

That is so true. Success also leaves footprints.

What is the Blueprint Method?

The Blueprint Method is as powerful as it is simple, and it’s based on solid research. The fastest way to master any new skill is to study and copy the strategies of someone who’s already getting the results you want.

Essentially, the Blueprint Method is modeling, a social and observational learning theory recognized by psychologists for decades.

Sounds easy, right?

The problem is that most people don’t do it. And even those who do try to learn from others often fail to recognize important patterns that could help them level up their own success.

You see, it’s not enough to know who to look at (people already getting the results you want), you must also know how to look.

“It is impossible to learn that which one thinks one already knows.” — Epictetus

Isn’t the Blueprint Method a Cookie-Cutter Approach?

Yes, it absolutely is a cookie-cutter approach. But I think cookie cutters get a bad reputation. People think that because something has been done before, it’s somehow less valuable or original.

While there’s truth to the downside of following in the footsteps of others, the pros far outweigh any cons.

You see, another way to say “cookie-cutter” is to say template or blueprint. Chefs from around the world follow recipes. Engineers and architects follow blueprints or at least established principles of geometry and physics.

Every sports legend that ever graced a field or court focused on the fundamentals, those plays that have been done a million times before, but often make the difference between success and failure.

Cookie-cutter approaches are not bad. Instead, they are the blueprints upon which we can accelerate our skill acquisition and mastery of almost anything.

How to Look at What You Want to Achieve

I have discovered three powerful keys to study a successful person who is getting the results that you want in your own life.

Here they are:

The Three Vantage Points of Accelerated Skill Learning:

1. Macro
2. Micro
3. Crossover

Macro Vantage Point

When you study the person from a macro perspective, you look at them from a big picture point of view.

Macro elements are overall strategies, major steps in the process or sequence, and core elements of their success.

These are the obvious moves, plays, or strategies. Anyone paying attention could spot them.

An example would be when I was studying how to write a query letter for my first non-fiction book.

I began by taking a macro vantage point. Basically, I Googled examples of successful query letters. I read each one, focusing on the big picture elements of the format, major sections of the query letter, and — just as importantly — what was left out of the query letter.

“Order and simplification are the first steps of the mastery of a subject.” — Thomas Mann

Micro Vantage Point

Studying a person from a micro vantage point is the opposite of studying them from the macro vantage point. In micro studying, you break down the larger elements into smaller segments.

If you found an overall strategy in a macro study, you now examine each part of the strategy. If you found a major step in the macro study, you now further segment that step into individual mini-steps.

Essentially, you are chunking down to a more precise level where you can extrapolate the smaller parts that make the bigger parts so effective.

Using my query letter example again, in micro-study, I explored each section of the query letter. I looked at how successful query letter writers introduced themselves, how each writer described their nonfiction book, and how each writer used bullet points.

Basically, micro studying is going down a few levels of specificity. You can, of course, continue drilling down to more and more specifics.

“The best craftsmanship always leaves holes and gaps, so that something that is not in the poem can creep, crawl, flash or thunder in.” — Dylan Thomas

Crossover Vantage Point

Just like my query letter skill training, it’s important to study more than one person. In fact, I think it’s in your best interest to study as many people as possible who are getting the kind of results that you want.

Odds are that you will find different people using different macro strategies. You’ll probably also find a variety of micro strategies that differ from person to person.

This is all quite a common phenomenon but can be confusing to a beginner learning a new skill. When you are new, it’s helpful to choose the path of least resistance and to take advantage of “low hanging fruit” strategies.

The way that you can find these easier strategies is to study as many people as possible who are getting the results that you want.

When you do, you will notice an even higher level of macro patterns, that is, patterns across different individuals. Once you spot these macro cross patterns, you’ll get a sense of the faster routes to mastery.

“Learn as though you would never be able to master it; hold it as though you would be in fear of losing it.” — Confucius

What Patterns to Look for?

Now that you know how to look, what do you look for?

Here is a starting guide for patterns to explore when you’re learning a new skill:

• How do they start?

• When do they start?

• Where do they start?

• What moves or techniques do they do over and over again?

• What do they focus on?

• What do they spend the most time on?

• What, if any, steps do they skip?

• What motivates them?

• What do they do differently than beginners?

• What do they do the same as beginners?

• What doesn’t make sense about what they do?

• What equipment or tools do they use?

• How do they prepare?

• What do they do directly after the skill?

In summary, the fastest way to get better at anything is to study people who are already getting the results that you want. Study their macro patterns, micro patterns, and crossover patterns.

Then apply those lessons to your own life.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” — Mahatma Gandhi

When you engage in this type of intense exploration of skill, you not only learn a technique, but you also grow as a human being.