Learning a new complex set of knowledge and skills is both scary and exciting: Scary because you are adventuring into the unknown; exciting because the unknown holds great potential.
Many people get stuck in the beginning stage. They do not understand the basics of learning or the learning process, setting themselves up to fail before they start. They waste time and energy on the new topic or skill, middling along with slow progress. Feeling frustrated and defeated by a lack of progress, they give up — with little success and learning from the time and energy.
However, there are ways to progress through the beginning stage of the new topic or skill and move into the intermediate stage:
Understand the basics of learning.
Create a solid foundation of basic (mental) models for concepts — knowledge and skills.
Acknowledge and deal with challenges in the learning process.
With this guide you can use your time and energy well, developing a solid foundation for your complex knowledge and skills — progressing to the intermediate stage!