How to Train Your Brain to Learn Faster

My 14-year-old was frustrated. I’d just beaten him in 4 straight games of 8-ball, our favorite version of billiards. The table was fairly new, delivered to our basement just the week before. But Joe, my son, thought that he should already be a professional. You’ve got to learn how to train your brain for this, I told him.

Eye roll. Did I mention he’s 14?

Seriously, I told him. You can’t just play against me, because I’m getting better every time we play, too. You have to practice when I’m not around. Every practice shot you take will train your brain.

Every practice shot you take will train your brain.

We train for lots of things, and we’re willing to spend large sums of money on it. We hire personal trainers to help us get fit, tutors to help us pass courses, coaches to help us build positive habits. Never satisfied, we take classes and buy online training courses. We subscribe to Audible and listen to all the self-development books our commutes can handle.

And lots of times, it works. But not always. And when it doesn’t, we give up. And we chalk it up to not being talented enough, or smart enough, or not having enough willpower. But all along we’ve been missing the most important ingredient — we’ve never really learned how to learn.