In school, I was lucky to be in the company of friends who were gifted students. Facts, figures, equations, and essays came brilliantly to them.

I was in awe of how much they could store in their brains. How could their brains hold so much and my brain so little? Did I even put shampoo on this morning?

For years, I endlessly cycled through methods: flashcards, pneumonic devices, re-writing notes. Some worked; others bombed.

In the last decade, I started to internalize a (not-so-secret) secret: the teacher who teaches knew best. 8 hours, 365 days went a long way. They not only knew the concepts but also expressed them in their own texture. It was both malleable and permanent.

So when you want to learn something pat, find a way to teach it. Even if it’s only to yourself.