Let's talk about self-taught. With Tobias van Schneider .
People often ask me: “How did you become self-taught? Can you give me any advice? What books are worth reading? What does it mean to be self-taught?

I always called myself a self-taught designer, because it is. I never received a special education, moreover, I flew out of school at the age of 15.
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But I think that the title of “self-taught” is now slightly overestimated, mainly because it attracts attention and creates a “legend.” In fact, being self-taught is not the opposite of getting a university degree. I believe that the majority of students are self-taught, even though they study “officially”.

What does it mean to be self-taught? In fact, you always learn not from yourself, but from someone: be it a teacher, a book or the Internet. The difference between traditional education in the case of self-taught is only in that they study under their own leadership. They choose their own teachers and set their own goals.

Being self-taught is rarely a conscious decision. No one ever says, “Okay, I'm going to be self-taught instead of getting an education.”

Usually it all starts with curiosity. If you are interested in something, and you want to know more about it, everything happens by itself.

Here is a small example:
As a child I was always interested in how electronic devices work. My WalkMan (this is a thing that appeared long before the iPod), my TV and computer. I just took some device, disassembled it, and on my desk lay a bunch of parts and screws.

Then I collected it all back. I was wondering if the devices will work after this “operation”. In most cases, they did not work.

Then I repeated this procedure again and again, until in the end the devices started to work again. The advantage of this is that I learned so much. By doing this, you create your own small problems yourself, and then solve them. Then I did not create anything new, just played with ready-made devices.

After some time, I realized what certain electronic components are responsible for, and then the magic began.

When I understood the basics, I started trying to create something new. So began my first creative attempts.

It all starts with curiosity, which pushes you to take the first steps. Just listen to your inner voice. My inner voice told me to disassemble the devices, try to understand how they work, and then collect them back - no one advised me.

When you listen to yourself, everything else happens by itself.
That's why I first became a computer geek. I was just wondering how electronic devices work, then I became interested in software engineering, because I wanted to learn how to program what I collected.

Then I began to study design, because I always needed more time to design my programs than to write code. In my case, coding was just a step towards design, which became my real hobby.

As a designer, I realized the importance of content. Therefore, I began to create my own content and products at the same time.

Honestly, I can not advise any books, because there is no such thing as "I want to be self-taught." This is not a solution, it is simply a result of your interest in something: be it a photograph, the creation of music or any products.

Ilon Mask - a perfect example of self-taught. Of course, he has a degree in physics. But before he created SpaceX or Tesla, he had no experience in mechanical engineering or astrodynamics.

He started with the basics. He read books, asked questions and paved his own way. Then he tried to build a rocket, it exploded a couple of times, and Musk realized his mistakes. And he tried again to start all over again. I literally imagine how Ilon Musk sat at home and wrote in Google “How to build a rocket”.

All i know
I learned from books ...

- Abraham Lincoln

If Lincoln lived in 2020, the quote would most likely have been: “Everything that I know, I learned from the Internet and books.”

In my experience I understood several important things. Now, when I try to learn something new, I follow the following simple steps.

Rule number 1.

Everything should be as organic as possible. You cannot force yourself to do something that you are absolutely not interested in. Start with the first thing that comes to your mind, so you can never go wrong. For example, breaking something is a great exercise for self-development , because so you learn how to fix it.

Rule number 2.

Do not listen to other people telling you what is right or wrong.

If I had asked someone for advice, I would have been told that I did not need to disassemble a fully working television and break it by my own stupidity so that I could try to fix it for hours.

And in the end, that was what really helped me.

Rule number 3.

Surround yourself with people who motivate you, who support you in your endeavors, no matter how they end.

Such people are rare, so if you find them, try not to lose them. To facilitate the search process - use the tips on how to engage in casual conversation in any situation .

Rule number 4.

Always help others. Even if you are just starting yourself, you can always teach others about something and give them something useful. This is how real miracles begin.

It is not necessary to be a professional to help people.

Rule number 5.

Surround yourself with people who are “better” than you.

So advised Donny Osmond, and I believe that this is partly correct.

But I would replace "better than you" with "more crazy than you" or "different from you."

Rule number 6.

The most important thing is to break the rules. Be a rebel, break the rules and do not be afraid.

What if you fail? Get up and try again, training willpower and improving skills.

And what if you don't like what you do? Do not do it, do something else. It's simple.

The main advantage of self-taught is that if they do not know how to do something, they do it in their own way.

Note: The author of the article is Tobias van Schneider. He really walked the path of self-taught. Now this is a man who worked with Google, Red Bull and BMW, although he himself has not yet decided who he is by profession.

PS We recommend another useful article on the work on yourself - 30 websites that will make you much more educated .

The author of the translation is Vyacheslav Davidenko, the founder of the TESTutor company.