Beginners

Children are naturally wired to learn without fear, but as adults, why do we stop challenging ourselves to grow and learn?

1. Learning keeps the mind alive at every age

Adults often fall into patterns that prioritize routine over growth, yet learning new skills engages the brain and maintains its vitality. Tom Vanderbilt, inspired by teaching his daughter life skills, realized he had neglected his own learning journey. This sparked a personal experiment in starting fresh at various pursuits, proving that learning isn’t just for the young.

Learning as an adult can be transformative. Unlike passive learning, like reading or consuming media, developing a skill—singing, surfing, or playing chess—builds procedural knowledge. Procedural knowledge helps you actually do things and brings a sense of agency and accomplishment. While childhood is a time of rapid neurological growth, the adult brain retains plasticity, meaning it’s always ready to adapt if given the opportunity.

Studies on older adults engaging in new activities like painting and writing music show cognitive benefits extend far beyond the skills they directly practice. Not only does this improve memory and problem-solving, but the brain forms connections that can make future learning easier. Lifelong learning becomes a tool not just for mental sharpness but for a richer life.

Examples

• Vanderbilt began surfing to reignite his sense of curiosity and challenge.
• Adults who learn art or music often find broader cognitive improvements, including better focus.
• Brain plasticity studies reveal adults can rewire pathways with continued effort.

2. Singing can be learned, not just gifted

Singing seems instinctive, like an innate talent, but it’s actually a skill that improves with practice and technique. Many feel nervous or embarrassed about their voices, but singing is deeply tied to biology and breath—it’s a physical skill you can train just like riding a bike.

Tom Vanderbilt recounts how structured vocal exercises help beginners connect with their bodies differently. By mastering how air flows through your vocal folds and controls pitch, even untrained singers can start holding melodies. Singing isn’t just about vocal cords—it’s also about using your diaphragm, steady breathing, and even posture. Beginners often find their biggest challenges lie in overcoming self-consciousness and really projecting their voices.

Once students get past that psychological barrier, they begin to unlock their musical potential. It’s not about starting with perfection but about throwing yourself into the process. As Vanderbilt learned, building confidence comes from trying, failing, and learning together.

Examples

• The University of California researchers proved embarrassment about singing is common, but surmountable.
• Students learning to loosen their bodies with funny vocal exercises often find liberation to sing well.
• Choir members who lacked confidence before joining grew tremendously through social singing.

3. Social learning accelerates growth

Skills develop faster in groups, where learners observe and receive feedback. Social environments like choir practice, team sports, or collective hobbies leverage our instinct for connection, fostering both learning and happiness. Singing in a choir captures this balance beautifully.

When people practice together—harmonizing vocals or perfecting timing—they synchronize biologically as well as mentally. Levels of oxytocin rise, stress falls, and even heartbeats begin to align. Practicing in group settings also helps combat fears, as learners see others struggling and progressing alongside them. Much like early humans working in tribes, modern group learning is hard-wired for collaboration.

Early psychologist Norman Triplett found that even cyclists outperformed themselves when training or racing with others. Similarly, learning with people, whether at a choir rehearsal or via an app like Smule, makes skill acquisition more engaging and effective.

Examples

• Choirs unite people with different singing levels, helping everyone progress by sharing their collective learning.
• Online apps like Smule allow amateur singers to practice duets with strangers around the world.
• Cyclists riding in teams push themselves harder, a concept known as social facilitation.

4. Becoming an “advanced beginner” is harder than it sounds

Learning new skills begins with understanding the basic rules, but improvement becomes difficult quickly after mastering these. For example, a chess novice might learn how a knight moves, but real gameplay requires nuanced tactics. This gap between knowing rules and applying them effectively discourages many learners.

Professors Stuart and Hubert Dreyfus identified five steps of skill development: novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, and expert. Beginners often feel progress stall at the second stage because reality rarely conforms to textbook scenarios. Surfers learning to catch waves may paddle properly yet find real waves unpredictable. This step requires experience, trial, and adapting to nuances.

Despite the struggle, breaking through this phase is where real skills are honed. Instead of rigidly adhering to rules, learners begin thinking creatively and applying knowledge dynamically. It’s here the journey becomes rewarding—but persistence is key.

Examples

• Only 5% of people stick with surfing after initial lessons due to repeated frustrations.
• Language learners often stall after mastering basic grammar but push through by having real conversations.
• Rookie errors, like over-tilting when cycling or missing split-second chess moves, decrease through practice.

5. Repetition builds mastery

Every skill becomes second nature when mental effort fades, and motions become automatic. Mastering an activity like juggling or cycling hinges on muscle memory—not muscles themselves, but allowing the brain to internalize patterns.

Observational learning greatly improves the process. Vanderbilt discusses how jugglers advance faster by watching peers rather than solely practicing alone. Watching someone perform mechanics gives your brain a blueprint before testing it out yourself. Over time, unconscious precision takes over, as the brain shifts skills from focus-heavy learning regions to automatic ones.

Beyond individual progress, studies show that relaxing into “flow” states during repetitive practice makes learning faster. This repetition creates not only technical strength but mental clarity, letting learners tackle harder challenges effortlessly.

Examples

• Juggling practice reveals beginners often fail by overthinking movements rather than searching for rhythm.
• Cyclists instinctively lean their weight while steering, a reflex built through practice.
• Observing athletes or skilled workers outperforms static written instructions in teaching techniques.

6. Drawing isn’t coordination—it’s observation

The key to becoming a good artist lies not in hand control but learning to see the world correctly. According to Vanderbilt, most adults struggle with drawing because they default into symbolic thinking, sketching objects as they imagine them, not how they truly appear.

Studies have shown beginners often amplify features like eyes due to biases about importance, with 95% of novices placing eyes far too high when drawing faces. Learning to observe real-world proportions—as shapes, angles, and shadows—shifts artists into a more accurate and abstract view over time.

By stepping away from preconceptions, beginners unlock tools for both art and understanding. Observation doesn’t just apply to drawing but alters how people see their world altogether.

Examples

• Untrained artists tend to inflate prominent facial features such as eyes, overlooking actual scale.
• Lessons that start with abstraction like shadows turn simple sketches into recognized forms.
• A famous experiment demonstrated how expectations alter memory by asking groups to recreate an ambiguous “dumbbell vs. glasses” sketch.

7. Age doesn’t limit learning

At 70, Patricia—new to swimming—decided to confront her limits by practicing strokes nightly in the mountains. Just a year later, her determination let her swim a kilometer in the Mediterranean. Her story shows boldness beats any “too old to start” mentality.

Even in later stages, taking on new hobbies fosters well-being. Patricia not only mastered swimming but pivoted towards entirely different challenges like pickleball and astronomy. By remaining curious, adults can physically and mentally reframe retirement into an enriching phase.

Meanwhile, skilled professionals, like jeweler David, showcase how continually learning keeps industries innovative. As he adopted digital design alongside traditional techniques, he expanded creative horizons.

Examples

• A retiree who never swam before proved perseverance surpasses limitations, from cross-Mediterranean swimming to new sports.
• David combined technical craftsmanship with digital tools, maintaining relevance in modern artistry.
• Lifelong curiosity bridges personal fulfillment with unexpected growth opportunities.

8. Learning is awkward—and that’s okay

A large roadblock for adults is fear of looking foolish, yet vulnerability is crucial when beginning anything worth mastering. Vanderbilt emphasizes how fumbling through lessons builds resilience, whether trying karaoke or sketching for the first time since grade school.

Learning might feel clumsy or “off” for weeks, but science shows this discomfort signifies real growth pathways forming in the brain. Resisting judgment allows adults to embrace the messy side, making each laughable first step a cornerstone for future success.

Examples

• Embarrassment studies show singing publicly ranks higher than speaking, yet a room of amateurs bonds through shared nerves.
• Tech-savvy retirees often flounder through learning new software before thriving in modern hobbies.
• One Millennial’s “ukulele awkwardness” blossomed fast by simply joining supportive jam sessions.

9. Fun is the best teacher in disguise

Whether flying a kite or composing music recreationally, joy keeps learners motivated. Counterintuitively, Vanderbilt suggests learning "pointless" skills accelerates mental fitness because intrinsic delight lowers pressure while raising effort naturally.

Lingering ideas that only “career skills” matter stifle organic growth. Fun reignites joy in the little things without guilt—for pleasure’s sake.

Examples

• Adults returning to camp-like experiences rediscover forgotten wonders like archery or rock-climbing purely for delight.
• Learning bad puns within foreign languages has indirectly pushed fluency faster among expats.
• Even kite-flying classes inspire fascination over function!

Takeaways

1. Push past frustration: whenever progress seems slow, remind yourself each failure is a brick in your foundation.
2. Find a team to share in learning—even a karaoke partner or running buddy boosts success chances.
3. Pick something “useful” offbeat just because sparks excitement—let go guilt about practicality entirely, freeing creative brain adventures ahead.