Ever since I was in highschool, I’ve always appreciated those who could complete a Rubik’s cube. There is something almost awe-inspiring about watching someone complete a cube, especially if you have no idea how they did it. I remember feeling almost envious of another student when I watched them breeze over the cube and finish it with ease. There was something almost magical about the process.
Several decades later, I’ve finally learned how to do it. All it took was 7 days, practicing about 2 hours per day. The impetus to finally sit down and focus was a culmination of multiple factors:
My son had gotten a cube for his birthday last year. Some of his friends had learned, which added pressure to him to learn.
He diligently learned through YouTube videos. I was proud to watch him over a week or so come home from school, after finishing his homework, diving right back into self-learning. I loved this so much. The initiative, the assertiveness, and the desire to learn made my heart sing.
My son and I had a discussion around how he hasn’t really mastered the cube until he can explain and teach another how to do it.
I had just completed the grueling 60-day fundraising for Kickstarter, and I needed a ‘lighter’ week, limiting some of my technology time so I could catch up on other things, get some rest, and refresh myself. My problem is my brain is always in [build mode]. This was the perfect time to learn the cube, help my son realize the power of teaching, and celebrate together my mastering of the cube!
You Can Learn Anything
How often I’ve written about this, how often have I spoken on this! How often I’ve encouraged others to find the power inside of them! As it pertains to the Rubik’s cube, here’s all you need to know:
It’s a complicated system. Not complex. Meaning, it’s a knowable system.
It’s based on essentially 9 steps. Each step is about 5-10 moves. You must memorize the steps.
Incremental learning is the key here. I decided I would (with discipline), have my son teach me each step, one per day. After I had understood it, I spent time practicing and adding those steps to my muscle memory.
Additive learning wins. 7 days, ~2 hours per day. That’s all it took.
Sharing every day wins with my son have been amazing. It’s so powerful to have your children teach you something. It unlocks pathways in their brain. Teaching your children that they can do anything by breaking work down into smaller parts is a powerful first step to living a life of Agile. It brought me so much joy to celebrate with my son every day I learned.
Subsequently, competitiveness has taken over my household. My daughter, who has the highest IQ of any of us in our family, took on the challenge and learned how to do it all in less than 3 days. Her spacial intelligence, pattern recognition, and baked-in optimization in her mental models was amazing to witness. She now holds the esteemed prize of learning ‘faster than appa.’ My wife is now embarking on her journey to learn the cube. She’s going to learn it faster than me I suppose… though I do think my discipline to ONLY LEARNING ONE STEP at a time had it’s purpose… lol. Maybe I’m really the dumbest person in my family…
Never Stop Sharpening Your Mental Blades
I don’t look forward to getting old. I don’t think about it much. But I do know for a fact that playing video games is amazing for old people. It keeps the brain sharp. I look forward to being a live-streaming rockstar in my 90s when my body fails and all I have left is my brain. I hope you’ll subscribe to my gaming in the next 40 years :).
Keep learning. Keep challenging yourself. Mastering a Rubik’s cube has emboldened me to go for 4x4. My son has already mastered the 2x2 and has acquired a speed-cube for the 3x3. This basic puzzle unlocks the theme that anyone can learn anything: with discipline, time, and dedication.
It makes you wonder. What could you achieve if you simply put time and attention with discipline? Maybe this year is the year you incrementally build that dream you’ve been wondering about for decades. Maybe this is the year where you invest more into yourself than a company and a boss that will replace you in 2 weeks when you’re gone.
You can do this. You can do it. I’m one of your fans.
All the best,
ps
Here is the video solving it! - I release these videos 30-45 days early for Xsubs FIRST! Join us!