Finished the thesis early in the book

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Maybe someone in their early 20s with little experience in their life might like it.

Would you ever listen to anything by Josh Kaufman again?

No.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Josh Kaufman?

Not sure. Really not going to.

What character would you cut from The First 20 Hours?

I'd kill all the stories about things he learned in his past.

Any additional comments?

Seriously, he finishes his thesis early in the book. The rest is just fill. He talks about how he learned yoga and computer programming (that's all in the past). This was all about 20/20 foresight. How about talking about his thesis and then actually applying it to something he knows nothing about. Write about that. Write about how it's something he wants to learn, but is fighting with all the self doubts, frustration and aggravation of finding the motivation to do what he intellectually wants, but has trouble finding the discipline to actually learn. Prove that thesis. Don't just introduce the thesis and then look back into the past about how it worked for things he already learned. Don't talk about things he had to learn for his business. I have to do that all the time. I have to learn about things I could care less about because I have to do it for my business.

All in all, this book talks about a thesis that could be stated in 3 lines. Only focus on learning one thing at a time. Devote the time to do it and don't let any other learning distractions stop you from this goal. And finally, think before you do. Plan how you're going to learn and do it intelligently. I have a problem with that idea because it all falls back to 20/20 foresight. You can't learn what's important and what isn't until you learn something about it.

In the end, this was a brief thesis that didn't need the full space of a book. It makes money for the author because it's not a brief article that he can put on his website--it's a book. And this book is a waste of time and money.

217 people found this helpful

First 3 Chapters are enough

The book has a great start and fullfilled my expectations. The you get 30min of yoga history and you just stop listening.

53 people found this helpful

Learn by doing it.

First -- you're listening to a book instead of reading it because you wan to "read" faster than actual reading. So, for anything you wan to learn (or want to burn down your learning bucket list), you learn by doing it. Based on his experience and research, Josh has come up with 10 principles for learning enough to enjoy.

1. Choose a lovable skill
2. Choose the target performance level
3. Learn one -- only one -- at a time.
4. Deconstruct the skill to sub skills
5. Get the tools to help you start practicing the skill asap.
and 5 more.

Key emphasis on the getting to doing and acquiring skill, tips creating the environment to sticking to it makes all the difference in this approach. First few chapters will move to action -- a great success for any book by any measure.

The book also details Josh's successful application of these techniques to learning Yoga, web application, Go, touch typing, ukulele and windsurfing. I treat this as bonus.

41 people found this helpful

Very enjoyable book. His ideas sound so right.

I can see why some other people didn't like this book. But that does not matter, because I thought this was a great format.

The first three chapters covers methods for skill acquisition, and the remainder of the book are the authors experiences while using his system to acquire 6 new skills. I thought his 6 stories of skill acquisition were quite good.

5 people found this helpful

Disspointed

Would you try another book from Josh Kaufman and/or Josh Kaufman?

I don't know.

What do you think your next listen will be?

I don't know.

Have you listened to any of Josh Kaufman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The First 20 Hours?

All stories telling me how do yoga, programming, playing go, sailing, etc.

Any additional comments?

The author has some great advice for learning but the meat of the advice comes in about the first 45 minutes and the rest is just telling me how to do yoga, program computers, play GO, sailing, etc., stuff I'm not interested in, nor did I want to learn about. I realize the author is trying to use those as examples as to how he learned something but it was ridiculously detailed and certainly took him more than 20 hours. I feel like the rest of the book was decdicated to plugging his wifes Yoga video and his other computer businesses and his "20 hour" website.

It real waste of my time and my money for this book!

38 people found this helpful

more about yoga than learning

What would have made The First 20 Hours better?

focus on the art of learning, or rapid skill acquisition. I understand using something like yoga as an example of how you do RSA, but for about the last hour I've been listening to how to actually DO yoga, which doesn't interest me. I didn't want to hear about what you learned about yoga.

What do you think your next listen will be?

something else.

7 people found this helpful

Lots of talk way to much filler.

Would you try another book from Josh Kaufman and/or Josh Kaufman?

No

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Did not get that far

Would you be willing to try another one of Josh Kaufman’s performances?

No

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Anger and disappointment

Any additional comments?

So much of the audio book was devoted to stories and that's fine to warm us up to the strategies but at chapter seven I found myself a bit angry at having listened to a very long talk on yoga positions, history,what he got out of it and Antonio Banderas younger look alike all the women had crushes on... and very little on new strategies...

basically save yourself money just devote yourself to 90 minutes of intense study if you can't study 90 minutes build up to it.. remove distractions and make time for study daily at roughly same time... there free ... I was victimized by the old bait and switch.
I paid for learning strategies and received a book on how to fill hours of the listeners time and do it sounding gooooood.. .. (Yes Josh has a good voice)
What a waste.

Shame on you Josh. You got me but I'm returning the audio book for my money back. I want my time back also but that's gone and I feel ripped off.

12 people found this helpful

Solution + Step by Step Examples - Perfect for me.

If you could sum up The First 20 Hours in three words, what would they be?

Made me Smarter

What was one of the most memorable moments of The First 20 Hours?

The web programming example walked through the steps, giving an exact account of what the solution would look like in practice. Not only that, the example is so detailed, with resources listed, that I want to re-listen and build a web based program myself.

What about Josh Kaufman’s performance did you like?

Josh's voice is easy to listen too, and he does a great job of translating sincerity in wanting to help anyone learn whatever they want to learn, fast. The willingness to so honestly and openly share his knowledge is admirable.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It is not a one sitting book. It not long though, and sections motivated me to get up and Practice what I want to Learn. Very motivational.

Any additional comments?

I shared this book with co-workers who are studying for project management certifications. Three of them, who reviewed the material, were impressed and are using the 'practice' concept for studying, rather than spending so much time on reading material. One successfully passed the exam, and the rest of us have our exams scheduled soon.

4 people found this helpful

A Shrill and Vacuous Petard

If I LEARNed ANYTHING FAST from this shrill and vacuous petard, it's that I would do much better to spend at least 20 seconds to scan the reviews before taking the Audible bait on a Daily Deal.

7 people found this helpful

A few key points make a worthwhile read

Where does The First 20 Hours rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's in the top 20% of all the personal improvement books I've listened to.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The First 20 Hours?

It reinforces the idea of Deliberate Practice, which I first heard about in "Talent is Overrated".

What about Josh Kaufman’s performance did you like?

Any time an author is reading his own book, it's going to be hit or miss. Fortunately, Josh Kaufman read it well. Having the author read his own book wasn't a negative at all.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The notion that you don't have to be a black-belt expert at everything. That if you want to learn something, spend 20 hours learning it in an effective manner and then you're good enough to move on to another skill.

Any additional comments?

I wasn't a huge fan of all the examples - how he learned Go, or to type, or to program, etc. Seemed a bit like filler. But it's worth listening to nonetheless.

3 people found this helpful