The First 20 Hours

How to Learn Anything... Fast!

De: Josh Kaufman

Narrado por: Josh Kaufman

"Learn anything... fast!"

Take a moment to consider how many things you want to learn to do. What's on your list? What's holding you back from getting started? Are you worried about the time and effort it takes to acquire new skills - time you don't have and effort you can't spare?

Research suggests it takes 10,000 hours to develop a new skill. In this nonstop world when will you ever find that much time and energy?

To make matters worse, the early hours of practicing something new are always the most frustrating. That's why it's difficult to learn how to speak a new language, play an instrument, hit a golf ball, or shoot great photos. It's so much easier to watch TV or surf the web...

In The First 20 Hours, Josh Kaufman offers a systematic approach to rapid skill acquisition: how to learn any new skill as quickly as possible. His method shows you how to deconstruct complex skills, maximize productive practice, and remove common learning barriers. By completing just 20 hours of focused, deliberate practice you'll go from knowing absolutely nothing to performing noticeably well.

This method isn't theoretical: it's field-tested. Kaufman invites readers to join him as he field tests his approach by learning to program a Web application, play the ukulele, practice yoga, re-learn to touch type, get the hang of windsurfing, and study the world's oldest and most complex board game.

What do you want to learn?

Listen to The First 80 Minutes FREE from The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything . . . Fast!.

©2013 Worldly Wisdom Ventures LLC (P)2013 Worldly Wisdom Ventures LLC

Reseñas de la Crítica

"As a father of three, practicing neurosurgeon, and global journalist, I don't have a lot of free time on my hands. The First 20 Hours is a practical guide to learning beyond our mid-20s, when our brains are fully developed. Josh's book will inspire you to pick up forgotten hobbies and chase elusive dreams." (Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent)

still evaluating but like what I hear so far

What made the experience of listening to The First 20 Hours the most enjoyable?

enthusiastic author/narrator. concepts presented appear logical and sound.

What about Josh Kaufman’s performance did you like?

the author has a great deal of enthusiasm and sounds authoritative

What’s an idea from the book that you will remember?

acquiring skills without necessarily needing to become an expert.... deciding how much I want to learn about a subject and not becoming overwhelmed and intimidated by it

Any additional comments?

I look forward to putting the concepts into practice

This is exceptional Book on Self Development

I have read so many books on self development and training, to name a few (quantum learning, Buzan's Genius Formula and other books, Paul Schelee's genius Code & Photo Reading, Einstein Factor for Win Wenger) and so many others.
In my point of view , this one of the very exceptional. Josh is abridging so many native ideas and theories, and creating his own model that fits professionals to achieve their immediate targets, with their busy schedules. Josh's unique approach is suitable for the fast growing in the market of knowledge, which is also changing rapidly.

Some of the example skills which have been described in details by the author will be skipped by me. the reason is that "i am not interested" but these skills can be substituted with your own lovable skills, after reading the original skill of course. For example, Yoga, i do not like it and cant love it, but i heard the whole method and will apply it on my favorite sport, Boxing.

Networking is my profession, and Ruby programming can become my lovable, so i will learn Ruby without substituting it with other skill, after Ruby i will go for DOT NET programming language with the same method for Ruby, and so on.

But there is a problem, the book says that you do not need to spend 10000 hours to learn a skill, I agree, but if you want to become a surgeon or read and understand Goethe's work, then you will definitely spend much more than 20 hours.

Josh's work is great, i am in love with his book and probably buy other books for him. Specially the books he narrates himself, because he is not only reading good but also he is delivering his message with maximum potential, obviously because he believes in what he wrote himself.

Could've been a pamphlet

It's a good system it's just that most of the book is about how he applied it to his own purposes so unless your desire to learn the exact same things he taught himself you're only going to find the first 2 chapters useful.

Great information

Will be learning nunchakus, guitar, backflip, full splits, photography, powerlifting, snowboarding, name memory, dancing, welding. Thats it at first... I can make time, it's easy.

I don't learn much.

Would you try another book from Josh Kaufman and/or Josh Kaufman?

This is my second book from Josh Kaufman. I read the Personal MBA, not from audiobook. I think Josh has a give to write in a simple, easy to understand way. So, yeah, I will perhaps buy another book of Josh, but not the audiobook.

Has The First 20 Hours turned you off from other books in this genre?

No. I like personal development book and I think this book has something to offer that is very unique.

How could the performance have been better?

I think Josh is not the best narrator even for his own book (sorry Josh). Perhaps it will be better to use professional narrator.

Did The First 20 Hours inspire you to do anything?

Yes, the first 20 hours inspire me to learn Golf.

Any additional comments?

I feel a bit disappointed because I have read the article by Josh before reading the book, and I don't find anything more valuable from the book.

Also the examples that Josh gave in the book does not interest me at all. I don't want to learn yoga, programming, windsurfing, or typing. And this part bored me so much, which is maybe 70% of the book (well, maybe not that much, but in boredom time feels longer).

a surefire method to a more fulfilling life

A thorough and compelling explanation of the authors 20 hour method to learn any skill you can think of followed by several pieces of his own anecdotal evidence told in an interesting manner. Well worth the listen.

Mind Blowing!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Great book because it will change your view of learning.

What did you like best about this story?

Learning strategies.

Which character – as performed by Josh Kaufman – was your favorite?

The first chapter is great!

What did you learn from The First 20 Hours that you would use in your daily life?

The deliberate action strategy.

Any additional comments?

Great book!

I just didn't find this book useful

Although the book starts off with what looks to be good advice, it just doesn't follow through when it gets to the implementation chapters. I listened to a couple chapters about things I knew nothing about and didn't feel I learned much about the topic or about the process of learning. For comparison, I listened to a chapter about something I knew a LOT about I got even less on both sides of that

I'm cutting my losses here. The next time I need to learn something new, I'll revisit the first 30 minutes, but that's really all there is to this one...

For Those Interested In The Process of Mastery

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoyed how you actually get to learn what's in side this authors head. He isn't just teaching the basics of his method he actually shares his mental blue print.

What about Josh Kaufman’s performance did you like?

I think he did fine, he's a tad over enthusiastic, but nothing too deterring.

Any additional comments?

This is not for those who wan't a quick fix for learning something fast. This is for those who are actively working on themselves and love the pursuit of mastery. I think him breaking down what he personally did is a very valuable form of knowledge. This is for those who those who like to peek inside a person's mind to see how they did something, not to just see how it's done.

not exactly what I expected.

it was worth getting, just not what I expected. there is a lot of stories on how he accomplished his skills in twenty hours, and I'm sure once I read it again I will get more out of it then I did the first time.