ULTRALEARNING

by Scott H. Young

Summary & Worksheet

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The Book In Three Or More Sentences:

Think that writing a best-seller or learning a new language is a mon-

strous task requiring months, even years to accomplish? Not if you
have a playbook. The framework in this book will show you how to
become a learning champion. Ultralearning by Scott H. Young will set
you up on a path of self-actualization and mastery. The book offers a
practical system that will show you how to master gigantic tasks in a
short period of time.

The Core Idea:

Instead of spending weeks soaking up facts that will get you nowhere,
Scott Young focuses on execution. He claims that everything can be
learned in a shorter time frame than you think. Ultralearning is the
manuscript that will save you hundreds of thousands of dollars on
tuition fees, and not only. The book explains how you can use tech-
nology to master hard skills in a fraction of the time mentioned by
bureaucratic institutions.

Highlights:
• Don’t rely on institutions to learn new things. The current world al-
lows us to create our own curriculum. Helping us master new things
faster and cheaper.
• Learn by doing. Immediately after you understand something new,
apply it to a project, or create a situation where the new thing can
be practiced.
• It’s about continuously expanding your knowledge and inspiring the
people around you to do the same.

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5 Key Lessons from Ultralearning:

• Lesson #1: We Falsely Think That Learning Things Should Happen

Only in Schools
• Lesson #2: In Our Fast-Paced World, Ultralearning is Becoming a
Vital Skill
• Lesson #3: Apply What You Learn In Projects Immediately To Un-
derstand it Better
• Lesson #4: The Ability To Learn Hard Things Quick is a Powerful
Skill
• Lesson #5: To Inspire The People Around You, Be an Advocate of
Lifelong Learning

Lesson #1: We Falsely Think That Learning Things

Should Happen Only in Schools
Instead of enrolling in college for four years and asking the bank to
pay for the tuition, the author chose to do something else. He decided
to accelerate the time needed to get an MIT degree by learning the
material all by himself.

The result?

A degree, crowds cheering on Reddit, and people around the world

offering jobs.

This is how the ultralearning journey began for the author. And it all
started with the realization that you don’t necessarily have to enroll
in college to learn something new. You can create your own learning
schedule to master a particular topic.

Based on the stories in the book, it will not only take you less time but
it will also cost you a fraction of what you’d otherwise have to pay if
you enroll in college.

Sadly, this is not how we’re taught.

The general population is certain that you can’t understand anything,

at least not proficient enough, if you don’t enroll in expensive colleges
and listen to lectures for hours.

That’s not what the author thinks, though. According to him, every-
thing can be learned, fast, if you’re willing to create your own learning
schedule.

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This is what he wrote after successfully completing his now-famous
MIT Challenge: “For years, I had thought the only way to learn things
deeply was to push through school. Finishing this project taught me
not only that this assumption was false but that this alternate path
could be more fun and exciting.”

Instead of collecting loans and spending half a decade in the class-

room, in the book, Scott Young is suggesting to create your own
schedule.

The world is changing and the institutions we previously used to mas-

ter skills are becoming redundant. Nowadays, to stay competitive in
the ever-changing world you need to realize these 3 things:

1. Our understanding of learning is flawed.

2. We should create our own learning schedule for the things we
want to master.
3. Learning anything we want it’s a lot more fun when we focus on 2.

“Technology has made learning easier than ever, yet tuition

costs are exploding. A four-year degree used to be an assur-
ance of a decent job. Now it is barely a foot in the door. The
best careers demand sophisticated skills that you’re unlikely to
stumble upon by chance.” Scott H. Young

Lesson #2: In Our Fast-Paced World, Ultralearn-

ing is Becoming a Vital Skill
In our ever-changing world, the ability to adopt new skills, fast, is
paramount for your success.

Graduating from college might serve you for a couple of years but
with this rate of innovation, your fancy diploma won’t be enough in
the years to come.

That’s where ultralearning comes into the scene. This bizarre method
is not just about learning, it’s about staying relevant.

But what is ultralearning?

Scott Young describes ultralearning as, “A strategy for acquiring skills

and knowledge that is both self-directed and intense.”

The word intense here is key. Ultralearning focuses on adopting new

techniques, languages, skills in months, not in years. It might seem
impossible. But the stories mentioned in the book prove otherwise.

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The framework presented in the book will give you guidance if you
decide to “teach yourself” something new that can potentially trans-
form your life.

Here’s the short version of the key principles of becoming an ultrale-

arner mentioned in the book:

Key Principles of Becoming an Ultralearner:

1. Metalearning: First draw a map: The first step is rather untradi-
tional. Before starting to learn, you’ll have to spend some time, as
described by the author, “learning how to learn the subject.” This
means researching the topic and creating your own curriculum
that will assist you along your journey.
2. Focus: Sharpen your knife: Concentration. That’s the secret in-
gredient to master skills in months, even in days, rather than in
years. Your ability to focus on a single task will greatly increase
your progress.
3. Directness: Go straight ahead: This step is about doing what you
want to learn even before you understand the fundamentals. Or
as illustrated by the author, “The easiest way to learn directly is
to simply spend a lot of time doing the thing you want to become
good at.”
4. Drill: Attack your weakest point: To become world-class, you need
to fortify the weak links on your bag of tricks. Break down the hard,
complex tasks you currently suck at. Then, practice till you’re bet-
ter.
5. Retrieval: Test to learn: Studies performed by psychologists prove
that trying to recall information without looking at the text is the
best way to retain information for a long period of time. Even if
you’re not ready, test your skill without looking at your notes.
6. Feedback: Don’t dodge the punches: Look forward to negative
feedback. Expect it. Ask for it. Don’t cling on the nice words said by
your parents. Seek criticism from outside people who don’t know
you. Paying attention to comments that are unfavorable will un-
cover the path forward you were unable to see for yourself.
7. Retention: Don’t fill a leaky bucket: It sounds bizarre, but learn-
ing is the easy part. Remembering what you’ve learned is where
things get a little tricky. Repeating the fundamentals after some
time should be included in your curriculum.
8. Intuition: Dig deep before building up: Understand how things
work, deeply. There is a difference between knowing the name
of something and actually knowing something. Ask questions and
imagine situations in your mind that fit your own understanding
when others explain complex problems.
9. Experimentation: Explore outside your comfort zone: Self-educat-
ing yourself in one field won’t be enough to become widely popular
in a specific area. You need to try many techniques. To experiment

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 with materials and methods. By doing so, you’ll start to see solu-
tions where others see only problems.

“Beyond principles and tactics is a broader ultralearning ethos.

It’s one of taking responsibility for your own learning: deciding
what you want to learn, how you want to learn it, and craft-
ing your own plan to learn what you need to. You’re the one in
charge, and you’re the one who’s ultimately responsible for the
results you generate.” Scott H. Young

Lesson #3: Apply What You Learn In Projects Im-

mediately To Understand it Better
Why schools are bad?

It’s not because the material is bad. Nor is the professor’s fault who
is presenting to the students. The main reason the school system has
been accused in the last few years is the lack of practice happening
in the classrooms. Plus, the fact that the material taught there is out-
dated.

This unreliability of what should be the prime source for education is

what formed the fellowship of the ultralearners.

As the author points out in the book, the default way of learning
things from school and from books is not good enough to help you
take the lead in a given field. The ordinary systems are simply not
putting enough importance on applying what was learned. That’s why
students and later even managers are unable to apply the principle
learned from textbooks.

Ultralearners have a different approach when they tackle a particular

field: they learn by doing. They strive to tie the newly learned thing to
a certain project or a situation. And like everything else they do, this
is done instantly after a new technique enters their orbit.

To achieve their insanely intense learning goals, ultralearners use the

following tactics:

• Tactic 1: Project-based learning: The premise of this tactic is sim-

ple. Instead of exposing themselves to even more information, ul-
tralearners sign up for projects. Or in the words of the author, “if
you organize your learning around producing something, you’re
guaranteed to at least learn how to produce that thing.” So, learn
how to write by writing, not by reading about how to write.
• Tactic 2: Immersive learning: Want to learn a new language? Sur-

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 round yourself with people who speak this language. Exposing
yourself to people who practice what you want to learn is the key
factor in learning something fast. If you’re unable to visit China
to speak Chinese, find local communities or online forums where
people are doing the things you want to master.
• Tactic 3: The flight simulator method: Say you want to learn how to
fly a plane, what will you do? The above-mentioned tactics are out
of the question – you can’t practice and having a chat with pilots
won’t be enough to learn the skill. What to do then? We’re left only
with practicing on a flight simulator. The idea is to put yourself in
situations where you need to make decisions based on the subject
you want to learn.
• Tactic 4: The overkill approach: Bold ultralearners take this route
when they want to make progress fast. This approach is about pre-
senting your work to the public early – even if you’re not ready.
The idea is to sign up for a project that is above your current skill
set. The pressure of showing your work to the public will force you
to learn fast and also receive valuable feedback.

Lesson #4: The Ability To Learn Hard Things

Quick is a Powerful Skill
A year without speaking English.

That’s how the author was able to learn 4 different languages in one
year.

The plan was simple, at least on paper: Visit four countries, stay three
months in each one. Once arrived, speak only the local language.

While Scott Young didn’t master all of the four languages of the coun-
tries he visited, he was able to understand and speak enough to go
around.

Can you reach similar results?

This depends solely on your efforts. But the more projects you start
and complete, the better you’d become at fast-paced learning (i.e. ul-
tralearning).

In the last chapter of the book, the author offers a short step-by-step
process that will help you properly set your ultralearning project:

• Step 1: Do your research: Think ahead. Research the topic you

want to understand. Create a resource list and map out the skills
you’ll need to get better. Think about how you can practice the skill
you’re learning as early as possible. Read interviews of people who

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 already possess the skill you want to obtain to learn from them.
• Step 2: Schedule your time: It goes without saying that you’ll have
to invest time to complete your ultralearning project. You don’t
have to quit your job or ditch your friends, but certain sacrifices
have to be made. Plan when you’re going to learn in advance and
avoid interruptions when in sessions.
• Step 3: Execute your plan: Start even if you’re not ready. No plan
is perfect. The important thing is to make progress fast. This will
motivate you to keep going. Occasionally, stop and check whether
you’re going in the right direction.
• Step 4: Review your results: Analyze your results. What went right?
What didn’t? What can you avoid in the future to prevent mistakes?
Did you spend enough time learning? Did you practice enough?
Both successful and unsuccessful projects can give you valuable
feedback
• Step 5: Choose to maintain or master what you’ve learned: Learn-
ing a new skill is only the beginning. After you know how to, say,
play the piano, you have to make the following decision: become
even better or simply maintain the current level. After all, if you do
nothing with the newly-learned skill, it will atrophy.

“The goal of ultralearning is to expand the opportunities avail-

able to you, not narrow them. It is to create new avenues for
learning and to push yourself to pursue them aggressively rath-
er than timidly waiting by the sidelines.” Scott H. Young

Lesson #5: To Inspire The People Around You, Be

an Advocate of Lifelong Learning
The modern world can be a problem.

It can be a problem for your willingness to educate your children. To

inspire the people around you and to sustain a healthy rhythm of ac-
complished tasks.

Since the laid-back and “purchase as many goods as possible and

share them online” lifestyle is becoming dangerously trendy. It can
be hard to encourage the people around you, including yourself, to
pursue better results.

The key, as described by the author, is fostering lifelong learning. Mo-

tivating people to tackle difficult learning projects on their own for as
long as they are alive.

How can you promote such an ambitious goal and embed it in the
lives of our already corrupted by technology day to day lives?

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There are a couple of suggestions in the book you can try for yourself:

• Suggestion 1: Create an inspiring goal: Scott Young states, “allow

people to design their own learning goals that inspire them.” You
can’t force people to get better, you can only show them the path
and potentially inspire them along the way. Tie the skill you wish
to educate to a compelling goal that sounds and looks interesting.
• Suggestion 2: Be careful with competition: To continue pursuing
a certain task, you need to feel that you’re good at it. To sense
that you’re getting better. If you reach a state where you say stuff
like, “I’m no good at math,” you have a problem. Make sure to com-
pare yourself with the right group of people. People who are either
equal, or slightly better than you. This will motivate you to push
forward. If you start to compare with peers who already mastered
the field you want to acquire, you’ll have difficulty convincing your-
self to try harder as the task will seem impossible.
• Suggestion 3: Make learning a priority: Outside school, learning is
perceived as a nerdish activity performed by socially unequipped
people. Yet, only by expanding your set of skills, you can find new
opportunities in our ever-changing world. Here, by learning, the
author doesn’t mean passively sitting on your sofa and consum-
ing seminars. No. He’s encouraging an action-oriented approach
where you get your hands dirty while you read/watch books and
videos.

“Learning, at its core, is a broadening of horizons, of seeing

things that were previously invisible and of recognizing capa-
bilities within yourself that you didn’t know existed.” Scott H.
Young

Actionable Notes:
• Determine Why, What, and How: During the metalearning phase,
stop and consider the following things 3 things: 1) Why do you want
to learn this skill? When you understand what’s your motive, you
can remove parts of your curriculum that are not of your interest.
2) What type of knowledge and abilities do you need to be success-
ful in this field? When you define success, you’ll build better learn-
ing habits. 3) How are you going to learn this skill? This question
forces you to think about the learning methods you’re going to use
and also when and where the actual learning will take place.
• Start practicing on the first day: Learning something new requires
time and effort. But the main reason our understanding of a new
subject stretches over a long period of time is not because of the
complexity of the topic. It has to do with how we approach prac-
ticing the new material. Scott Young explains that ultralearners,
when wanting to adopt new skills, fearlessly dive into practicing

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 the new activity. If they want to learn a new language, they will
start speaking with strangers on the first day and will be careless
that their pronunciation sucks initially.
• Deconstruct the skill: A task seems too complex? Break it down
to pieces and focus on one particular component. Famous ul-
tralearners apply the so-called Direct-Then-Drill Approach. The
strange-sounding technique is composed of three parts: First,
practice the skill regardless of your clumsiness – write, if you want
to be a writer. Second, analyze what just happened and isolate the
components you’re still not good at. The final step is to apply what
you just learned (in step two).
• Give yourself a “struggle timer”: Dealing with seemingly unachiev-
able tasks is part of life. If you always quit, though, you will never
advance in your career. Fast learners apply a strategy called “strug-
gle timer.” This tactic is exactly what the name suggests. You give
yourself 10 more minutes to struggle on a problem. For instance,
when you’re trying to solve a math problem for the last 30 min-
utes, instead of throwing the equation out of the window apply the
struggle timer strategy. Work 10 more minutes on the task. The
fictional deadline is usually enough to give you a new perspective
to solve the problem. Even if you’re unable to solve it, at least you
know that you tried.
• Use technology: “For those who know how to use technology wise-
ly, it is the easiest time in history to teach yourself something new.”
Yes, there are apps and tools that are designed to steal our atten-
tion. Yet, there are others that will greatly reduce the time you
need to learn. Once you figured out what you want to learn, find
the best tools available online. Settle for the best ones and remove
distracting apps that are fighting for your attention.

Commentary and My Personal Takeaway

Learning new skills and acquiring volumes of knowledge is necessary
if we want to stay relevant. Paradoxically, real education happens out-
side the traditional school system. The only person who can teach
you new things is no other than yourself.

Ultralearning by Scott H. Young is the kind of book I wish existed when

I graduated from school. Instead of going to college, and spending four
years supposedly learning how to become what is now mentioned on
my diploma, I could have challenged myself to learn currently ade-
quate topics in months.

While the key message of the book is worthy of every self-respect-

ing learner, this book is not for everyone. It will surely be rejected by
know-it-all graduates who praise the education system or from peo-
ple who long for fast results. It’s for lifelong learners who are eager

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to immerse themselves in new fields they know nothing about. For
committed people who strive to master both traditional and emerg-
ing fields.

The ultralearning framework mentioned in the book will allow you

to single-handedly master topics you previously thought you’ll never
learn.

The systematic approach provided by Scoot Young will allow you to

create your own curriculum that will help you become a learning
champion and upgrade your skill-set.

Key takeaway:

Aggressive self-education. Regular learning sessions. Practice what

you’ve learned. These are a few of the things I’ll hold tight, pursue,
and strive towards after reading the book.

Notable Quotes:
“When people hear about geniuses, especially the iconoclastic ones
such as Feynman, there’s a tendency to focus on their gifts and not
their efforts.” Scott H. Young

“If you want to pass a test, practice solving the kinds of problems
that are likely to appear on it.” Scott H. Young

“Ultralearners carefully adjust their environment so that they’re

not able to predict whether they’ll succeed or fail. If they fail too
often, they simplify the problem so they can start noticing when
they’re doing things right. If they fail too little, they’ll make the task
harder or their standards stricter so that they can distinguish the
success of different approaches.” Scott H. Young

What to read next:

• Actionable Book Summary: How to Read a Book by Charles Van Doren
& Mortimer J. Adler
• Actionable Book Summary: Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental
Models by Gabriel Weinberg
• Actionable Book Summary: Range by David Epstein

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 INTERACTIVE SHEET FOR NOTE-TAKING

Reading alone won’t help you understand the actionable notes. You
need to engage with the content. Answer the question below (just type
inside the boxes) to outline your future steps:

1. Why do you want to learn this skill?

2. What type of knowledge and abilities do you need to be successful in this field?

3. What methods are you going to use to learn this skill?

4. What can you do today, to practice the new skill you’re learning?

5. If a task, skill you want to learn, is too complex, break it down to pieces:

Don’t forget to save your changes.

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