This question is kind of weird, in the sense that what I really wish is that I had climbed some shallow (big wins with not too much effort) learning curves earlier. In lots of domains, an 80⁄20 rule applies, where you get 80% of the benefit with the first 20% of the effort expended.
exercise, food, meditation/planning/metacognition training, some positive psychology tricks, social interaction, clothing and personal presentation, playing an instrument. There are probably lots of others.
strongly disagree with “learning an instrument”. I wasted lots of time on that. The costs are high, and all the benefits are either dubious or can be more cheaply obtained through other means.
At least for classical instruments, getting good enough to not embarrass yourself is quite expensive, both monetarily (equipment, teachers) and in terms of time. At >1k hours of practice and ~$10k invested, I’m just barely good enough to get paying gigs (which I’d lose in a second if the people paying me knew anyone who’d attended conservatory).
How is playing an instrument a big win, and how is it not much effort? (I’m assuming it involves not learning a classical instrument.)
Playing the piano or guitar, even at a semi-beginner level, can be a lot of fun. You won’t make money off of it, but you can show off to friends and family members. It’s like playing tennis or basketball: you need a high level of skill to compete seriously, but you don’t need to be even as good as the local high school team to have fun with your friends.
Learning to play an instrument is probably not something most people can get an 80⁄20 sort of benefit from, but it belongs in a class of activities in which some/many people can put minor effort in to reap the significant benefit of becoming a more interesting person, depending on one’s innate proclivities. Other examples may include dancing, singing, drawing/painting, certain sports/physical activities, craft-work, etc.
This question is kind of weird, in the sense that what I really wish is that I had climbed some shallow (big wins with not too much effort) learning curves earlier. In lots of domains, an 80⁄20 rule applies, where you get 80% of the benefit with the first 20% of the effort expended.
I’m curious about the domains where you get shallow wins.
exercise, food, meditation/planning/metacognition training, some positive psychology tricks, social interaction, clothing and personal presentation, playing an instrument. There are probably lots of others.
Really?
At least for classical instruments, getting good enough to not embarrass yourself is quite expensive, both monetarily (equipment, teachers) and in terms of time. At >1k hours of practice and ~$10k invested, I’m just barely good enough to get paying gigs (which I’d lose in a second if the people paying me knew anyone who’d attended conservatory).
How is playing an instrument a big win, and how is it not much effort? (I’m assuming it involves not learning a classical instrument.)
Playing the piano or guitar, even at a semi-beginner level, can be a lot of fun. You won’t make money off of it, but you can show off to friends and family members. It’s like playing tennis or basketball: you need a high level of skill to compete seriously, but you don’t need to be even as good as the local high school team to have fun with your friends.
Incidentally, I think it might be easier to achieve minimal competence on a guitar than on many other instruments—you can perform a lot of songs just by learning a few chords and singing the melody.
Learning to play an instrument is probably not something most people can get an 80⁄20 sort of benefit from, but it belongs in a class of activities in which some/many people can put minor effort in to reap the significant benefit of becoming a more interesting person, depending on one’s innate proclivities. Other examples may include dancing, singing, drawing/painting, certain sports/physical activities, craft-work, etc.
Off the top of my head: fashion, public speaking, and knowledge of the tax code.