Ultralearning Project Template.v1

• This page is based on the Ultraleanring concepts in Scott Young’s book Ultralearning.
• This post is also a compilation of the reflections of the Koi video The 9 Laws of Ultralearning | Master ANYTHING Quickly organized by RemNote’s AI YouTube video summary and flashcard creation

Introduction to Ultralearning

Core Argument of Ultralearning

• Traditional education is inefficient and outdated.
• Traditional education does not effectively or consistently support student agency development or teach self-reliance.
• Agency is the capacity to make free, independent choices.
• Self-reliance is important for taking control of our lives through learning.
• Self-reliance is the act of putting agency into practice by trusting your own judgment and abilities.
• You cannot be self-reliant without agency.

Rule 1: Meta-learning

• Meta-learning involves figuring out the what, why, and how of what you’re about to learn.
• Breaking down and simplifying the learning process is important.
• Meta-learning is like a syllabus or onboarding process.

Applying Meta-learning

• Identify two to three core learning objectives.
• Schedule specific times for learning.
• Identify courses, resources, or coaching to use.
• Get a big picture overview of what you need to learn and in what order.
• Be specific about what to do each day.

Meta-learning Research and Plan Example

• Learn to effectively play the guitar part of the Stevie Ray Vaughan version of Jimi Hendrix’s Voodoo Child.
• AI Prompt: “Create a 4-week learning plan to learn the guitar part of Stevie Ray Vaughn’s Voodoo Child with a daily schedule spread over the day for a total of 1 hour a day, list and link resources, check links to make sure they are active and not broken.”
• Results from April 1, 2025 from Gemini, Claude, ChatGPT, Eduaide, and Magic School
  • Eduaide and Magic School both use various generative AI sources
• Schedule and Plan with specific daily work
• Resource Files
• Practice Log to track progress

Rule 2: Focus Deeply

• Deep focus is important when learning.
• Concentrated effort leads to higher quality and more efficient learning.

Building a Deep Work Routine

• Build a deep work routine to prepare your mind and environment for focusing.
• Dedicate specific blocks of time to deep work.
• Eliminate distractions during deep work time.
• Focus intently on learning during deep work.

Improving Time Efficiency

• Make your time worth more instead of trying to create more time for learning.
• Build a habit of focus.

Rule 3: Directedness

• Directedness means being actively engaged in the process you want to master.
• Directedness is learning by doing.

Declarative vs. Procedural Learning

• The declarative path involves learning concepts, facts, and definitions.
• The procedural path involves learning by doing.
• Application is needed to round out learning.

Applying Directedness

• Apply what you learn.
• Build a project while learning a skill.
• Projects force you to apply what you’re learning.
• Directedness helps solidify what you’re learning.

Rule 4: Drill

• Drill the skills that need the most improvement.
• Work on all areas to develop mastery, especially the ones you’re bad at.

Interconnectedness of Learning

• Learning is interconnected, and everything works together.
• Fixing one problem area can improve all of your learning.

Weakest Link

• You’re only as good as your weakest link.
• Spend the most time drilling and improving the area that is the weakest.

Rule 5: Retrieval

• Retrieval is actively recalling information and skills from memory.
• Retrieval is important for strengthening long-term memory.

Benefits of Retrieval

• Retrieval strengthens and cements learning into long-term memory.
• Retrieval is challenging and requires effort.

Applying Retrieval

• Teaching is a powerful way to use retrieval.
• By teaching something, you learn it twice.

Rule 6: Feedback

• Frequent feedback helps you see what you can’t see yourself.

Types of Feedback

• The least valuable feedback is ego feedback or praise.
• The best feedback is constructive and corrective.

Seeking Constructive Criticism

• Look at comments and analytics.
• Ask people to critique your content.
• Send out surveys.
• Seek constructive, corrective criticism to learn faster.

Rule 7: Retention

• Retention means regularly practicing with your knowledge and skills to stay sharp.
• If you don’t use it, you lose it.

Maintaining Skills

• Set up systems to revisit what you’ve learned.
• Repackage what you’ve learned into a different use case.
• Actively seek opportunities to apply and implement the skills you’ve learned.

Rule 8: Intuition

• Intuition is the gut feeling that comes with experience.
• Intuition is a sign of deep expertise.

Developing Intuition

• Immerse yourself in what you learn.
• Eat, sleep, breathe, and dream about it.
• Your mindset will change, and you’ll develop a deep intuition.

Rule 9: Experimentation

• Experimentation means trying new approaches to refine and optimize your process.
• Experimentation makes learning more fun.
• Experimentation dramatically improves our learning.

Applying Experimentation

• Experimentation brings your learning to the cutting edge.
• Come up with new formats or styles.
• Uniquely remix your ideas.
• Maintain high curiosity and interest in what you’re learning.