In 1978, a twenty-eight-year old entrepreneur and a very beautiful woman were island-hopping in the Caribbean. Their plan was to travel to Puerto Rico, but when they arrived at the airport, their flight was cancelled. Disgruntled and discouraged, the fatigued passengers slunk into the formaldehyde chairs and, like the salty old pirates that once careened the surrounding islands, they cursed their rotten luck. 

No one did anything. 

Except this young business man. 

Desperate to impress the gorgeous blonde at his side, and determined to get to Puerto Rico, he decided to do something he’d never done before: he chose to learn a new skill. 

Swallowing all fear, doubt and uncertainty, he chartered a plane for $2000. This was something he’d never done before. Furthermore, he knew he didn’t have the funds in his bank account to cover the cost of the chartered plane. Quickly, he did the math: divide $2000 by the number of passengers = $39 person. Then, he did something that completely changed his life: he decided to sell these airline tickets to the passengers stranded in the exotic airport.

He states: “I borrowed a blackboard and wrote on it: VIRGIN AIRWAYS. $39 SINGLE FLIGHT TO PUERTO RICO.”

And that is how the idea for Virgin Airlines was born.

The young entrepreneur is Sir Richard Branson.

SCREW IT, JUST DO IT

In his book, Screw It, Let’s Do It: Lessons in Life, Sir Richard Branson says, “The staff at Virgin have a name for me…it is ‘Dr. Yes.’ They call me this because I won’t say no. I find more reasons to do things than not to do them. My motto really is: ‘Screw it—let’s do it! I will never say, ‘I can’t do this because I don’t know how to.’ I will give it a go. I won’t let silly rules stop me. I will find a legal way around them. I tell my staff, ‘If you want to do it, just do it.’ That way we all benefit. The staff’s work and ideas are valued and Virgin gains from their input and drive” (emphasis added).

The willingness to learn a new skill not only changed Branson’s vacation—it also changed his life.

If he could learn to sell airline tickets in an hour, then why not learn how to launch an airline?

New Skill Acquisition in 20 Hours or Less

Josh Kaufman, best-selling business author of The First 20 Hours, was curious about how long it takes to acquire a new skill. He discovered that K. Anders Ericsson, a professor at Florida State University, conducted a study of world-class musicians, professional athletes, chess grandmasters, and other high achievers, and found that with 10,000 hours, someone could go from average to elite. 

But it took 10,000 hours of focused, concentrated effort. 

However, as Josh so adroitly points out, “in this non-stop world, who has that kind of time?”

He provides a thought-provoking follow-up question:

“Is it possible to learn any new skill in 20 hours or less?”

He did his research, and put his theory to the test. 

In experiencing with wind surfing, playing a ukulele, practicing yoga, and programing a Web application, he discovered this break-through concept: 

“By completing just 20 hours of focused, deliberate practice you’ll go from knowing absolutely nothing to performing noticably well.”

Get to the First Hour

On average, it takes:

• 8-16 hours to learn to play guitar
• 5-7 hours to learn to ride a bike
• 15 minutes: start a blog on Word Press

But it can take years to get to the first hour.

Why?

Alex Hormozi, entrepreneur, author, and owner of Acquisition.com—with a portfolio of companies that earn over $83 million a year—says that it generally takes about 20 hours to learn something. 

He gives this personal example: 

For years, Alex procrastinated and put off building a website he desperately needed for his gym because he fed himself excuses: 

1) I’m not a tech guy 

2) I’m a gym guy 

3) I’m a business owner, I should hire someone to do this. 

But he became so frustrated one day by the lack of a website that he set aside an entire day to figure it out. 

On a Sunday, he sat down, searched the Internet for help, and in 4 hours he’d created a website. 

“Most skills can be learned decently in about twenty hours of focused effort,” Alex Hormozi states in an interview with pro football player Lewis Howes. “Twenty hours. The first twenty hours of you actually doing something you’re going to learn the most about the thing…the problem is, most people will take years to start the first hour. I want to start something, get through those twenty hours as fast as I can. In twenty hours, you can learn almost any skill…playing guitar, running an ad, you will learn more in that twenty hours than any other time, so just get to that twenty hours and don’t delay. It’s one of the deepest lessons I’ve had. It took me 4 years to build a website, and it took me 1 day to actually learn. 4 years to procrastinate and delay, 4 hours to sit down, learn it and do it.” (Lewis Howes, School of Greatness)

Additionally, successful people don’t wait for perfect conditions to start learning new things…instead they choose to start where they’re at.

Stop Procrastinating and Start Producing

Let’s say you want to make more money by starting a business.

You like dogs, so you decide to start a dog-walking business.

You know how to feed a dog, water the dog, and walk the dog.

What you don’t know is how to market your business.

Do you wait years to open your business?

Or do you get the first 20 hours out of the way?

Let’s say you decide to start with learning to sale.

On average, it takes:

–10 hours to create a slick brochure to pass around the neighborhood of your choice

–90 minutes to create a free business card on Canva (2 days Express Delivery)

–1 minute to learn to cold-call: go out and knock on a door

Research shows that with every 30 demos you do—or 30 cards you pass out or 30 fliers you leave on doors—you will get 10 people to take notice and 2-3 of them will either reach out and/or buy.

And in less than 20 hours, you’ve learned a new skill.

How Learning to Tickle the Ivories Helped Lead to an Academy Award

Robert Downey Jr. learned to play the violin left-handed for his starring role in Chaplin.

Jennifer Lawrence chopped wood and skinned a squirrel in Winter’s Bone.

Mahershala Ali learned to play the piano for his role as Dr. Don Shirley in Green Book.

In an interview, Ali says, “the goal, honestly, was not to learn how to play Chopin in three months. That’s not happening. But it was to give myself an opportunity to really sit at that piano and discover how that would inform the rest of my performance.”

And perform he did, all the way to the 91^st Academy Awards.

This Principle Applies to All

Being courageous enough to try something new applies in all job sectors.

Former Court Reporter Sandy Pister says, “I became a Certified Shorthand Reporter at age 21, and it totally changed my life. My father was a mailman; my mother never worked. They never owned a home. All their cars were old and in disrepair. When I found court reporting, and as stressful a job as it was, it gave me financial stability, a future and a lifelong love of the law.”

Feel Stupid? Do it Anyway

We are all afraid to try new things.

It’s the way our brain is programmed: the brain is hard-wired to protect us from anything hurtful or harmful. Nigel Nicholson says in the Harvard Business Review, “Any kind of change is risky when you are comfortable with the status quo.”

But what if the status quo begins to feel less like a comfort zone and more like a cage? 

Trying something new forces us to confront our fear of uncertainty. 

Will I learn this new thing? 

Will it feel awkward? 

Will I feel stupid?

The incredible fact: our brains are very elastic. And with each new step forward, the brain will react. Think about it: getting outside of your comfort zone is painful in the beginning, but if you’ll persist, your comfort zone grows. 

You will create a bigger comfort zone. 

The pain is only temporary.

So go out and try something new.

You have nothing to lose, and like Sir Richard Branson, if you’ll just do it, you everything to gain.