How to Master Any Skill

Step 2: Understand Every Word

To master a skill, you need to understand ALL the material about that skill. Every book, video, manual, chart or lecture. And to do this, you need to understand what EVERY WORD in the material.

Unfortunately, some people say, “That’s impossible. No one can understand every word.”

Other people say, “It’s not necessary. You can just make guesses.”

However, the best teachers say, “To understand everything about this skill, you need to understand every word. It’s not hard to do and worth the extra time it takes.”

When you know what every word means, everything you study makes sense. It’s like tiny light bulbs light up in your mind!

What Happens If You Skip Words You Do Not Understand?

Your mind starts to shut down. You space out. You forget what you are doing.

You might try to focus anyway. You might shake your head, open your eyes a little wider and take a deep breath. But understanding the sentence is impossible.

“The only reason a person gives up a study or becomes confused or unable to learn is because he or she has gone past a word that was not understood.

“Have you ever had the experience of coming to the end of a page and realized you didn’t know what you had read? Well, somewhere earlier on that page you went past a word that you did not understand.” — L. Ron Hubbard

How it Works

“Here’s an example.

‘It was found that when the crepuscule arrived the children were quieter and when it was not present, they were much livelier.’

“You see what happens?” — L. Ron Hubbard

If you are smart, you read the example and think, “What the heck is a crepuscule?”

So you look it up and read: Crepuscule: dusk or twilight; just after sunset.

Ah ha! Because you now understand what crepuscule means, the sentence makes sense, right?

“It was found that when the crepuscule arrived the children were quieter and when it was not present, they were much livelier.”

If this sentence does not make sense, read the definition of crepusculeThe time just after sunset. again. Then read the sentence again. The sentence should now make sense.

“Therefore, in studying be very, very certain you never go past a word you do not fully understand. If the material becomes confusing or you can’t seem to grasp it, there will be a word just earlier that you have not understood.” — L. Ron Hubbard

Three More Examples

Try to understand each sentence before clicking the underlined words.

Sentence 1: If the airplane maintenance is not copaceticCompletely satisfactory; excellent., you shouldn’t fly.

Sentence 2: I use a virguleA slash symbol / , a diagonal. as part of my computer passwords, but some apps won’t accept it.

Sentence 3: Because of his sanguineCheerfully confident, optimistic. attitude, most people believed him.

12 Signs You Have Gone Past a Misunderstood Word

These are NOT signs that you have a learning disability or mental disease. You feel these signs simply because you do not understand your material. Once you clear up the confusion, you feel wonderful!

1. You get confused and mixed up. “This sentence makes no sense.” “This is just too hard to understand.”
2. Your mind goes blank or you have a memory gap. “Wait! What did I just read?” “Oh, ha, OK, where was I?”
3. You feel drugged or spaced out. “I’ve been looking at the floor for 10 minutes.” “I think I’ll have a day dream now.”
4. You yawn and feel tired. Brain fog takes over and you have to stop. “I really need some coffee and some sugar.” “How about a quick nap?”
5. You can’t focus or your mind wanders off. “I wonder what I’ll have for dinner.” “Did Amy send me a reply yet?”
6. You feel like a looser or criticize yourself. You decide you can’t understand an idea no matter how hard you try. “I’m just too stupid.” “Maybe my mom dropped me on my head when I was a baby.”
7. You get frustrated or angry. No matter how hard you try, you just can’t study. “I’ll never figure this *&^%$#@ stuff out.” “I feel like burning this stupid book!”
8. You suddenly need a break for no reason. You tell yourself, “I’ll be right back. I promise.”
9. If you take a break, you find all kinds of excuses and reasons to not study. “It’s a beautiful day! I’ll take a walk.”
10. You think about quitting. “Maybe I don’t want to build websites now. I think I can borrow more money for my bills.”
11. You give up and simply memorize the material so you can pass the tests. You admit, “I’m good at repeating back information that I don’t understand.”
12.  Study feels like agonizing torture. “I hated school, I hate this too.”

How to Understand Every Sentence in Your Material

When you first start using this system, you might think you are spending too much time on individual words. However, you can only master your skill if you do it this way.

1. Whenever you notice any of the “12 Signs of Misunderstood Words” while studying, STOP!
2. Go back to the last time you were doing well. “Oh, yes, I got this paragraph. It makes total sense. But this next sentence is kind of confusing.”
3. FIND THE MISUNDERSTOOD WORD in that confusing sentence and clear it up with these steps.
   1. Read each word in the sentence, one at a time. Which word might you not understand?
   2. Look up any words that you might not understand. Use a dictionary and look them up.
   3. For each word you look up, figure out which definition fits the sentence.
   4. Make up a few sentences using that word until you KNOW the word.
   5. Read the sentence again. Does it NOW make complete sense?
   6. If yes, CONGRATULATIONS! You are mastering the skill, one word at a time. You should feel pretty good about this small, but important achievement.
   7. If not, find another word that is messing you up. Even if you need to check the definition of EVERY word in the sentence, persist until the sentence makes sense to you.
4. Continue to study with the next sentence.

Here is a chart showing the steps:

Pro Tip: Create a List of Words and Definitions

When you start a new topic or need to understand a complicated document that is filled with words that are new to you, create a personal dictionary or glossary.

1. Write down all the words you already know you don’t understand. Make a list.
2. Look them up.
3. As you discover the correct meaning of the word, write the definition next to the word on your list.
4. As you start to study the new topic or project, write down each word that you may not understand. Add the word to your list, find out the right definition and write it next to each word.
5. Take your time and fully understand each word in each sentence.
6. Your progress may feel very slow at first, but it eventually speeds up to very high speeds.

Use this tip for legal documents, complicated subjects, advanced topics, anything at all. You can even grab the most advanced book on any subject and slowly understand it.

When you can understand ANYTHING, you have power over it. You know more than almost everyone else. You can master any skill you like, including all of the million-dollar skills in the “85 Skills You Can Master!”

Other Ways to Misunderstand Your Material

You not only need to understand every word, you also need to clear up five other things you may not understand.

1. Acronyms: These are terms made up with the first letters of words, like IBM (International Business Machines), BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) and KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken). To fully understand your material, make sure you know what each letter stands for.

2. Idioms: A phrase or expression that has its own meaning, like “You nailed it!” or “I’ll get to the bottom of this problem” or “Are you pulling my leg?” Just knowing the words in the idiom phrase are not enough to understand the phrase; you need to know the idiom’s definition. Thanks to the internet, you can easily find the meaning of any idiom that is not in your dictionary. You cannot skip them!

3. Symbols: For example, $ for dollars, € for euros,  X for cut, % for percentage and ♥ for love. If you do not understand a symbol in your material, find out.

4. Specialized Words or Slang Words are created by groups. For example, “sparks” is a construction term for electricians. “Call a sparks to replace the cut wires.” Or “cannon” in baseball means a player who has a strong arm. “Wow! Great throw! He’s got a real cannon there.” You may have to do a little research to find the definitions of specialized words.

5. Typos: Typographical errors or mistakes in the typed letters can also act as Misunderstood Words. For example, “The dag ate the hamburger” makes no sense. At first you are confused. You might even look up the word “dag” with no success. But then you realize, “Hey wait! It should be ‘The dog ate the hamburger.’” A tiny light bulb lights up and you happily move on.

Action Steps

1. Grab the first page or lesson of the material you selected to master the skill (Step #1).
2. Read the first paragraph. Do you understand every sentence just as it is? Great! Continue.
3. If you think, “I’ll keep going because it might make sense soon,” stop! Look up the definitions of each word that you might not understand until the sentence makes sense.
4. At first, your reading speed may go very slow. But after you look up enough words, your reading speed will increase. You will feel joy from understanding everything you read.

Benefits

When you completely understand every single thing you read, watch or hear, all doors open for you. You gain a confidence level that few people achieve. You master the skill because you understand every detail about it. You KNOW the subject.

Making sure you understand every word is a simple idea, and it can be challenging to apply at first. You might even think it’s a waste of your time. But as your understanding of the skill grows, so does your joy of learning.

You will master this skill because you understand the material.

Next Step: #3 “Connect Ideas to Reality.”
Last Step: #1 “Pick the Right Material.”
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