Jack of All Trades: How to Master All Sorts of Skills in Short Amount of Time and Be a Modern Renaissance Person (Instant)

With a title like ‘Jack of All Trades’, you know you’re in for a good read as well. When I first came across this book I thought of how impossible the idea of being a master of many skills would be, but as I kept reading this guide book of sorts, I found just how possible it could be if you were to properly implement what it displayed for you.This book here starts off with an introduction on what this book is about, which is the mastery of skills, and it breaks down the logistics of how the rest of the world view the allotted time to ‘master’ any given skill, which is around 10,000 hours. Then it goes on to tell its readers that you shouldn’t put all of your time into one one skill using the phrase, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” At this point, I was confused because I figured there wasn’t any way you could master any more than one or two skills if it take THAT long, so why not focus all of my time? And then I found out.Reading on, it explains how tricky it is to only have ONE special skill because you may run into situations where your skill, although useful, may not help you in any way at all and you could become stuck. So then there’s a suggestion to become a Polymath, which is a person who had a wider range of knowledge than average or also known as ‘a person who knows everything.” I thought that to be out of reach, but continuing on I realized that it was closer to my grasp than I ever thought.It explains the mistakes to avoid as well, on your journey to becoming the jack of all trades, in great detail I might add and how self motivation is a strong factor in this process too! You’ll learn about the makings of a Renaissance man/woman as well as some details about a couple in our history. You’ll also learn about the difference between a talent and a skill, and how to separate the two personally.The most important step of this process though is to figure out what type of learner you are (visual, auditory, or kinesthetic) which this book also outlines all three of them for you and includes specific exercises for each different learner. You’ll be able to figure out what’s the best way for you to learn and what you can do to implement that into your life journey.So after you figure that out, you can begin with your to-do list that you can pick something from every day to do! Proceeding into the book, there’s various exercises that are given to you so that you can learn your skill and ultimately master it in the end. This book even teaches you how to train your brain to speed read and how to create a photographic memory for yourself as well!This book is the kind of book that one shouldn’t pass up if they are on a search or quest to receive the gift of knowledge because with this book you will learn the proper way to exercise your mind to harness the knowledge and be able to retain it. If you or someone you know are looking to become the Jack of all Trades, this book is a perfect addition to your library. Don’t pass this up. It had opened my mind to endless possibilities!

I bought this book mainly because of all the glowing reviews. Unfortunately, I got a lot less out of this book than other reviewers. I appreciate the author's intention of helping readers along with their journeys seeking diverse learning, and he does offer tips on prioritization, memorization, etc. which many readers apparently find useful. However, my sense is that book is best suited for people in an early stage of such a journey. Those of us who, like me, have been undertaking such a journey for many years may find the advice in the book fairly obvious, or even tedious and unnecessary, since they may have found their own set of methods for fostering their learning and progress.

This is an interesting how-to/self-improvement book written to give the reader several tricks, strategies, and mental tools to understand his own metacognition—knowing what one is learning. It is of benefit to those who have a direct need to improve his mental skills (students and business people), those who want to improve his mental skills (retirees who want to stay alert), and those who teach others in any subject.The first three chapters are an introduction to the premise of the book along with some historical background on the notion of a renaissance man and some famous ones in history. The next two chapters deal with self-assessing your own learning style and an overall definition of the art of learning. There are two chapters devoted to stimulating and enhancing your memory with background information on different methods to test and enhance your mental skills. Chapters eight and nine deal with deciding what skills are worthy for your own pursuit of knowledge and how to master the skills and content of your new learning endeavor. The end sums it all up with one chapter on teaching others to use the skills and a summary of the contents of the book.There is one chapter that is devoted to determining your own learning style. This chapter is especially useful for teachers to help students gain their own personal knowledge of metacognition. The chapter goes on to explain the different learning styles, their implications for the learner, and how to use that knowledge to improve yourself.There is also a chapter on how to learn by setting short-term goals: tips and strategies for day-by-day acquisition of information that you want or need to learn. The chapter goes on to give tips on how to conduct personal research to acquire this knowledge and/or skills for the new learning.My takeaway: This book is a benefit for anyone who wants some practical tips, strategies, skills, and tools to make life-long learning more accessible in the modern age. The author’s voice is light-hearted making it not so pedantic or preachy. The chapters are organized logically with subcategories arranged in a way that makes maneuvering throughout the text easy. I bookmarked several sections that I want to go back and puruse at a later date.My verdict: Well worth the cost of the book.

Excellent