How do you learn? Tom Sachs Response

The 10 insights that Tom Sachs took away from learning how to surf are as follows:

1. Learn how to create a sacred space: many surfers view the act of surfing in different ways, yet it is a cultural activity in some places around the world that is considered “spiritual”
2. Learn the code: it takes thousands of hours across many years to learn the fundamentals; Tom knows he and his team must first learn the basics to achieve success
3. He understands: Tom and his team learn from locals and pros who have mastered the sport of surfing; learning from masters makes the process more rapid
4. Compare & despair: Tom compares the process of learning how to surf to other aspects of his life that had a tough learning curve
5. Get in the boat: The team is provided with a boat that takes them off the beach (and out of their comfort zone). Getting in the boat can also be interpreted as getting out of your comfort zone
6. Be afraid: Similar to getting on the boat, one way to learn how to surf is putting yourself at risk so you will cherish the short time of riding the wave more
7. ABP (always be playing?): Pretty much just have fun, enjoy your time. They had to take a step back and stop thinking of this learning experience as a chore because it really is just play
8. Fail with joy: They had to realize that they would fail many times before earning a wave to ride, and like before had to accept that this was a fun activity after all
9. Get hurt: Surfing isn’t the safest sport, and to have a proper learning experience they went all in, even if it meant getting a little banged up
10. Persistence: Tom showed the graph of how long it takes to master surfing; he already had 1000 hours of experience and was still a novice, so a big part of this process definitely is persistence

These can all relate to learning how to be a designer as well. A sacred space is necessary for proper brainstorming and creativity. One must also learn the fundamentals of art (a code) before delving into massive projects as well. Learning from “masters” (professors) can definitely expedite the process rather than self-teaching. Comparing this process to a learning curve from another personal struggle will also help. “Getting in the boat” and being afraid are the ones that resonated with me the most when I compared them to the learning process of becoming a designer because a big problem I have is sharing my work and putting it out for the world to see, so getting out of your comfort zone is definitely a big step in the right direction. To contrast that, I have to remember that I picked this career/learning path for a reason which is that I enjoy the process and have fun doing it. Failing with joy, while it may seem counterintuitive, is necessary as well because everyone will fail at some point, and by accepting that fact will make it easier in the long run. Getting hurt likely won’t happen physically, but I could understand that a designer’s feelings could definitely be hurt whether it be through critique or turned down jobs, commissions, etc. Finally, another important one for me is persistence – I have to remember that I’m still a novice in the art of graphic design and will improve after every hour I put in.