When it comes to becoming an expert in something, there is a popular idea that nothing beats experience. This idea wisely suggests that it doesn’t really matter how many books you’ve read on a subject, or how many YouTube videos you’ve watched. Unless you actually have real experience in the matter, you’ll never improve. Here’s why this is true.
Muscle Memory
Whatever it is you’re learning, it needs to somehow be contained within your muscle memory. By the way, we don’t just mean physical muscle memory—we also mean muscles of the mind. When you have experience, these muscles get strengthened.
The Intangibles
All aspects of life have something tangible and intangible. The tangibles can be measured and those are the things you’ll learn in books. Don’t get us wrong, it’s crucial to know that technical stuff, but it’s the stuff you can’t see—the intangibles—that are going to take you where you need to go.
All Scenarios
Another thing about experience is that it exposes you to all possible outcomes and it becomes part of you like the air you breathe. It’s not like the answers to a test that you have to remember. It literally becomes a part of who you are, and experience is the only thing that can really provide that.
