Rapid learning Archives

Category: Rapid learning (page 1 of 4)

A collection of blog posts about Rapid learning. Here, Zamai Banje writes and discusses on rapid learning, efficient skill acquisition and how it affects young individuals.

November 30, 2025

High Agency: The Most Important Quality When Improving Yourself

You know that moment when life hits you with an unexpected problem?

A sudden emergency expense. Broken plans. A door of opportunity completely slammed shut.

Most people freeze.

They wait. Some of them complain. They hope something external shifts.

But a small group reacts differently.

They lean in. They ask, “Alright… how do I solve this?”

This mindset is called high agency.

And it’s the single most important quality for self-improvement.

Everything else — discipline, intelligence, connections — means nothing if you don’t believe you can actually move the needle.

If you want to grow fast in today’s world, you need this trait more than ever.

Let’s break it down.

What Is High Agency (And Why It Matters Now More Than Ever)

High agency is the fundamental belief that you can shape your world, not just react to it.

High agency is the difference between someone who sees a locked door and walks away versus someone who tries three different keys, picks the lock, or builds a new entrance.

Think about a child who sees a chocolate bar on the kitchen shelf.

They want it. The child climbs or drag a chair. They improvise.

That’s raw agency.

You were born with that drive. Everyone was. But as life goes on, many people let it die under layers of excuses, fear, and conditioning.

High agency is simply taking back that original state.

It’s the belief that:

You can shape your life.
You can solve your problems.
You can figure things out even when you don’t know how yet.

In today’s society, this quality isn’t just useful. It’s survival.

The World wants to stop your High Agency

We live in a world where the rules change fast.

Technology evolves daily. Opportunities appear and disappear overnight.

The people who thrive now are the ones who adapt quickly, learn fast, and take responsibility for everything they touch.

High agency is the conviction that you are an active participant in shaping your life, not a passive reactor to external events.

The Five Imperatives: Why You Must Develop High Agency

Developing a high sense of agency isn’t optional for becoming your highest self; it is the prerequisite.

Here are five major reasons why you must cultivate this quality now:

1. Nobody is coming to save you

If you rely on government, family, friends, or luck to rescue you, you’re done.

High agency kills the fantasy that someone else will do the work for you.

2. Problems don’t disappear; they compound

Avoiding responsibility doesn’t pause consequences; it multiplies them.

High agency forces you to confront things early while they’re still fixable.

3. Skill acquisition demands ownership

You can’t develop mastery with a passive mindset.

High agency pushes you to teach yourself, study on your own, and stay curious.

4. Your environment can’t be controlled, but your actions can

Life is unpredictable.

High agency gives you the ability to respond intelligently instead of reacting emotionally.

5. It creates momentum in every area

Once you start acting with high agency, everything speeds up: your learning, career, relationships, and opportunities.

People trust you more because you get things done.

These five reasons are the backbone of everything else in this newsletter.

The 5-Step Framework to Build High Agency

Let’s connect each reason to an actionable step. This is the part you’ll want to save.

STEP 1: Take responsibility immediately

The moment something goes wrong, claim it. Even if it wasn’t your fault.

Here’s what I mean.

If you say, “It’s not my fault,” you’ve surrendered all power to fix it. The problem becomes someone else’s job.

High agency begins the moment you say, “Okay, this is on me. Now what do I do about it?”

STEP 2: Identify problems early

Don’t let issues grow roots.

High agency people scan their life like a pilot checks instruments before taking off.

Ask yourself weekly:

What’s broken?
What’s slipping?
What’s uncomfortable that I’ve been avoiding?

Solve small issues before they become life-changing ones.

STEP 3: Become a self-teacher

High agency people don’t wait for perfect conditions.

They Google. Some of them watch videos. They experiment.

High agency people fail and try again.

If you want agency, stop waiting for someone to show you how. Learn the skill yourself.

Every skill you gain increases the number of problems you can solve.

STEP 4: Control your controllables

You can’t control the economy, but you can control your output.

People can’t be controlled, but you can control your standards.

Bad luck is unpredictable, but you can control preparation.

High agency is about focusing on your levers, not the world’s randomness.

STEP 5: Build fast momentum loops

Momentum is created through repeated small wins.

Make a habit of taking action within five minutes when an idea hits.

Send the email. Make the call. Start the draft.

Move quickly because the faster you act, the faster life rewards you.

The 5 Step Framework to Build High Agency

How To Spot High Agency People and Learn from Them

Once you start building this mindset, you’ll notice something funny.

High agency becomes magnetic. You see it instantly in others.

Here’s how to spot them:

1. Look at their history

Are they the kind of person who makes things happen despite obstacles?

Or do they always have explanations for things not working out?

Patterns don’t lie.

2. Watch how they handle “no”

A low agency person hears “no” and quits.

A high agency person hears “no” and gets creative.

They find another door. Or another route.

Or they build something new.

3. Pay attention to their questions

Low agency asks: “Why can’t someone fix this?”

High agency asks: “How can I fix this myself?”

The question tells you everything.

4. Check their default bias

Do they wait? Or do they act?

High agency people move.

They prototype. The high agency person experiments. They don’t sit around hoping.

5. See how they learn

Do they teach themselves?

Or do they hunt for information? Do they take initiative without being asked?

If yes, that’s the person you should be around.

And here’s the secret:

Agency is contagious. When you’re around people who get things done, you start to rise to their level without even noticing.

Examples of High Agency People Who Built Their Success

These real-world examples are people who took control, acted, iterated, and outworked every excuse.

1. J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling was a single mother on welfare, dealing with depression, when she started writing Harry Potter. Publishers rejected her manuscript twelve times. Instead of giving up, she kept submitting.

She believed she could change her circumstances through her work. That agency transformed not just her life but created an entire cultural phenomenon.

2. Thomas Sankara (Burkina Faso)

As President of Burkina Faso, Sankara embodied national high agency.

He refused to accept that his country was doomed to poverty and foreign aid dependency. He launched unprecedented campaigns for self-sufficiency, vaccination, women’s rights, and environmental protection.

Sankara famously urged his people to “produce what we consume, and consume what we produce,” a powerful call for collective agency.

3. Patrick Collison (Stripe)

Collison taught himself how to code as a teenager, built multiple products before 20, and refuses to accept limitations.

He’s the embodiment of “I’ll figure it out.”

4. Tony Elumelu (Nigerian Entrepreneur)

Elumelu is a high agency machine.

He spotted opportunities others ignored, built UBA into a continental force, and created the Tony Elumelu Foundation to develop African entrepreneurs.

Elumelu didn’t wait for the system to change. He changed it himself.

These people didn’t follow a rulebook. They wrote their own.

So, Why Does High Agency Matter So Much?

Because everything you want requires movement.

And movement only happens when you believe you can move something.

High agency is the belief that the world is bendable.

Not easily, not instantly, but bendable if you push consistently.

When you demonstrate high agency, your environment shifts.

People trust you more. Opportunities find you.

You start solving problems others are scared of. And that attracts even bigger opportunities.

This is how teams transform. Businesses scale because of high agency people.

High agency is how you change your life from the inside out.

If there’s one thing you take from this entire article, let it be this:

You are far more powerful than you think.

Agency is your birthright. You had it as a child. Reclaim it now.

Start taking responsibility.

Solve small problems fast. Teach yourself the skills you lack. Surround yourself with people who make things happen.

Start acting with urgency.

The pattern is clear. The locked doors aren’t there to stop you. They’re there to filter out everyone who isn’t serious about getting through.

Be one of the people who finds the key.

High agency isn’t a personality trait. It’s a choice. Make it daily.

And watch how fast your life compounds.

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

Become Your Highest Self Newsletter: Every Sunday, I share actionable tips from successful people on how to master money, mindset and meaning.
Fast Track Book: Stay relevant, master new skills, and be ready for whatever life throws at you. This is the complete roadmap to speed up your learning process and expand the opportunities available to you. Available on Amazon.
Personal Wealth Maximizer: Take control of your finances and build financial freedom. The Personal Wealth Maximizer give you the exact knowledge and tools to break free from money struggles and build financial confidence.

It's not 10,000 Hours. It is 10,000 Iterations

March 30, 2025

Why the 10,000 Hour Rule is Outdated (And What to Do Instead)

“Put in your 10,000 hours and you’ll become a master”

You’ve probably heard this advice if you’ve ever pursued excellence in any field. It’s been repeated in bestselling books, TED talks, and countless motivational speeches. But what if this widely accepted “truth” about mastery is fundamentally wrong?

For years, people have clung to the idea that 10,000 hours of practice is the magic ticket to expertise.

What is the 10,000 Hours Rule? (And Why It’s Misunderstood)

Gladwell’s “Outliers” popularized that 10,000 hours of deliberate practice leads to expertise.

The concept is simple: dedicate time, and you’ll achieve mastery.

But here’s the problem: time alone doesn’t make you great — iterations do.

Time Spent does not Equal Mastery

Think about it.

If you spend 10,000 hours lifting weights with bad form, will you become an elite powerlifter? No.

If you practice the wrong technique in business, will you become a millionaire? Highly unlikely.

If you drive a car for 10,000 hours, do you become a Formula 1 racer? Not at all.

Why?

Because mastery isn’t about counting hours — it’s about counting iterations, refining each attempt, and learning from every mistake.

I fear not the man who has practised 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practised one kick 10,000 times. – Bruce Lee

This reminds me of Zenitsu, one of the characters in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.

Zenitsu mastered a single sword-fighting technique (Thunderclap and Flash), so he could utilize it even while asleep. His swordsmanship skill drastically evolved to match that of the Hashira, the highest-ranked and most powerful swordsmen in the story.

All I am saying you can spend 10,000 hours doing something wrong and remain mediocre.

Many people focus on the quantity of hours, not the quality of practice.

The Problem with the 10,000-Hour Rule

Most people misinterpret it.

The 10,000-hour rule misses a crucial point: two people can spend identical amounts of time practising something yet achieve dramatically different results.

Why? Because most people have misinterpreted the research, focusing on the quantity of practice rather than quality.

The problem with the 10,000 Hours Rule is that it focuses too much on time spent rather than the quality and structure of practice.

Many people have put in 10,000 hours at their jobs without becoming exceptional at them.

They focus on the sheer quantity of practice, ignoring the quality. It’s not about mindless repetition — it’s about strategic, intentional iteration.

It’s 10,000 Iterations, not 10,000 Hours

“It isn’t 10,000 hours that creates outliers, it’s 10,000 iterations.” – Naval Ravikant

Top performers don’t just put in time—they test, tweak, and refine.

They aren’t afraid to break things, fix them, and push the limits of what’s possible.

It’s about 10,000 focused attempts at perfecting that one sword technique, with feedback and correction each time.

Do this to Replace the 10,000 Hour Rule

Iteration is Already a Part of Life

Look around you—iteration is the fundamental building block of progress in nearly everything:

Children learn to walk through thousands of tiny adjustments after falling.
Startups use “build-measure-learn” loops to develop products.
Evolution works through iterations of genetic variation and natural selection.

Also, look at how technology evolves.

Mobile phones started as bulky bricks that did little more than make calls. Now, they’re pocket-sized supercomputers. From Nokia 3310s to iPhones and Samsung Galaxy smartphones.

Every major advancement in technology, art, science, and human skill came through repeated iterations — not just hours of effort.

The same applies to your personal growth and skill development.

You’re already iterating every day

You just don’t realize it.

Ever adjusted a recipe after tasting it? Iteration.
Ever tweaked your workout after feeling sore? Iteration.
Ever adjusted your playing style after failing at a game? Iteration.

The problem? Most people stop refining too soon. They settle for “good enough” instead of pushing for “what’s next?”

What is Iteration

Iteration is not repetition. Iteration is error correction.

This distinction is crucial. Repetition without adjustment is just going through the motions. True iteration involves these 4 Steps:

Try something.
Break it.
Fix it.
Repeat.

Each iteration should teach you something new about your craft. Without this learning component, you’re just spinning your wheels—even if you’re logging hours.

How to Iterate Your Way to Mastery (Progressive Overload)

The secret? Add weight to your practice.

Lifters add more plates.
Learners add more challenges.
Gamers add more combos.

The key to real growth is progressive overload.

This is the principle that small, consistent improvements over time lead to massive gains. Just like lifting weights, you don’t jump to the heaviest load on day one. You progressively challenge yourself, increasing complexity and intensity with each rep.

Imagine learning a new language.

You don’t just cram vocabulary for 10,000 hours. You practice speaking, make mistakes, correct them, and repeat. That’s iteration.

It’s not necessarily all about the volume of time, but the number of reps you put into a specific task. The magic happens when you complete enough quality iterations — whether it takes 1,000 hours or 20,000.

Because it’s the meaningful repetitions that matter, not the clock.

Make Every Iteration Count

Want to master anything? Make every repetition count.

Start small. Focus on one variable at a time.
Measure. Track what changes.
Adjust. Improve one thing each time.

This is progressive overload—the same way athletes build strength by gradually increasing resistance.

But instead of weights, you’re adding challenge, precision, and refinement.

Mastery isn’t about sitting in one place for 10,000 hours — it’s about pushing through 10,000 iterations, each one sharper and more refined than the last.

It’s not the hours put in at work, it’s the work put in during the hours.

If you want to accelerate your success, stop worrying about the clock. Instead, focus on how many quality reps you’re putting in.

Your highest self will thank you.

May 12, 2024 / 1 Comment

Buckle Up: Everything is Just a Skill Issue

Till now I still dread the term – Buckle up because I have always been a creative at heart.

I loved the thought of creating something from scratch, putting it up for display, people come to buy what I create and I don’t have to worry about money.

Naturally, as a child I learnt to draw cartoon characters and write essays and short stories. As I got older, I studied things like graphic design, content writing and photography.

Although I learned a lot from these things, they never really helped me financially.

More specifically, I wanted to do my own thing but was unable to monetize my creativity.

It’s not because I was not skilled enough, it’s because I didn’t stack other skills that would allow me to make money and experience freedom. I was just a man-child who wanted to watch anime and read books for a living while expecting that my money problems solved themselves miraculously.

I will talk about my full story in a subsequent article, but for now, just know that this approach did not work out.

I had to swallow a pride and get a job.

But there is a profound lesson I learned which is still valuable today:

Lesson: Anything and everything can be learned.

Buckle Up: Everything is a Skill Issue

Everything is a skill Issue

Buckle up is often used as an interjection or exclamation to infer that an event is about to be exciting, unexpected, dangerous or even troubling. In real time, it simply meant – Things are about to get serious.

As time goes on, I am realizing that a person’s life changes when they realize everything is a skill.

The goal you currently strive for is just a couple of skills you must learn and build.

Discipline is a skill.

Patience is a skill.

Being funny is a skill.

Socializing is a skill.

Making Money is a skill.

Saving money is a skill.

Being good at anything is a skill.

Everything now depends on your skillset.

What are Skills?

A skill is your ability to do something well.

I love how wild_stoic puts it – “Skills are not magical words that you either do or don’t have. They are things that you build through repetition.” This makes it simple to understand because repetition leads to Mastery.

And mastery leads to the fulfillment of your goal.

How to Turn Anything to a Skill You Can Master

This framework is in 3 steps:

Step 1: Break it into Chunks and Daily Tasks:

Chunking is a phenomenon where a task is split into smaller units for easy doing.

To begin chunking, ask yourself:

What is the smallest single element of this skill that I can master?
What other chunks link to that chunk?

Practice one chunk by itself until you’ve mastered it. Then connect more chunks, one by one, exactly as you would combine letters to form a word. Then combine those chunks into still bigger chunks. And so on.

Go a step further by creating a daily action.

Which daily task would you need to complete in order to make noticeable, progressive progress in your selected skill?

Step 2: Execute with 30 for 30 or with Deep Work.

I learned this execution step from Sahil Bloom (He is a great guy you can check out as well):

a. 30-for-30: Do the daily task for 30 minutes per day for 30 straight days. 30 days is meaningful enough as a commitment that you can’t be half-in, but 30 minutes is short enough that you can convince yourself to take it on. 900 minutes of effort in a single month is enough to create tangible progress that will keep you pushing forward. This is my favored approach for getting started on any new area of progress.

b. Deep Work: Deep work means carving out 1-2 blocks of time per day when you will enter a deeply focused state to make progress against your area of choice. These blocks are generally 1-2 hours for most people and should be completed without distraction. This is the favored strategy for big professional goals.

Sahil also recommends that you start with 30-for-30 and then transition to Deep Work after a few months if you feel motivated and energized to go harder.

Step 3: Teach Others What You are Learning.

The ultimate test of your knowledge is your capacity to transfer it to another.

You can use the Feynman Technique to buckle up when seeing everything as a skill issue. The Feynman Technique is a simple and popular way of teaching others while developing mastery over your newly acquired skill. There are four steps to his method.

Teach your skill in its simplest form.
Identify gaps in your explanation. Go back to the source material to better understand it.
Organize and simplify your information.
Transmit and Transfer till the other person understands it.

But remember, do before you teach or share with others.

It Only Gets Better From Here On

When you see things from this angle, I strongly believe you can do anything you want if you practice it enough. You no longer have an excuse not to do anything.

Infact, you can do everything.

I hope this makes sense. Again, buckle up and see everything as a skill issue.