How Elon Musk learns faster than everyone

Whether you're a C-Suite Executive, manager, or entrepreneur, learning how he learns so fast can significantly spearhead your growth and development.

How does Elon Musk learn faster than everyone you know?

Elon is the genius behind Tesla, PayPal, SpaceX, SolarCity, Neuralink, The Boring Company, OpenAI, and many more big companies you see out there.

He has one framework (mental model) for learning.

First-principles thinking.

First-principles thinking = breaking down complicated problems into fundamental truths and building up from there.

Essentially, it means deconstructing a problem to its most fundamental truths, then forming a solution from scratch.

• What is the thing made of?

• Why does it work this way?

• Can I make it better?

For example, how can you make a car battery last longer?

By using first-principles thinking, here are some questions you would ask:

• What is a battery?

• How does it generate energy?

• What are the limiting factors for energy generation?

Another example:

To learn coding, start with HTML, CSS, and Javascript.

Then memorize code snippets and plug them into existing code.

But, consider using first-principles thinking.

Break the codes into fundamental truths like servers, APIs, databases, etc.

First-principles thinking is how Elon Musk landed SpaceX’s cost-saving reusable rocket.

Instead of outsourcing, he realized they could create the parts at a lower cost in-house.

In summary, you apply first-principles thinking to your learning by:

• Defining what you want to learn

• Identify the most fundamental truths

• Synthesize new ideas from those truths

• Iterate on the points above

This is the key to rapid learning in any field.

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Thanks for being here,

Alvis