Complex Learning is Non-Linear

Or, why you might spend decades working on what's more important.

Learning curves are cool, and can be studied to understand a lot of psychology: customer, team member, even your own self.

Why do gym members often either quit the gym in the first month or after 2 years?

Let’s look at the learning curve of a typical fitness journey - an “s” curve.

Slower than desired results up front, massive results in the middle, and then an ongoing diminishing return of incremental results over time.

This is the curve coaches and gyms need to analyze, because it’s the front and the end where the churn happens - and the middle portion is the magic.

Complex Learning Is Different

When it comes to learning complex things, however, growth comes with a very different looking graph.

This is because complex concepts have a non-linear path in every component: comprehension, adoption, utilization, mastery, etc.

IMO, successful people have mastered the ability to traverse this graph.

The amount of time required to go from exposure to a concept to peak proficiency could be decades of constant applied work.

Successful people understand this is a journey not a race.