For myself, I like to learn by myself on youtube and discuss with people who have the same interests on Reddit forums. Nowadays, it is not difficult for us to obtain knowledge independently from the Internet, even without spending money. However, the hard thing is how to cultivate the habit of self-learning.

First of all, it’s hard to learn by yourself. This difficulty is not because of the learning methods and tools, but because there are no exams and no one to test your grades. Second, self-study is a very boring and long journey. You spend a lot of time entering a new field and it’s hard to feel like you’ve improved. But in the process of learning, you will definitely encounter difficulties. At this time, you will doubt yourself and deny yourself.

So I think in building a self-learning network, having a plan and a goal is the most important thing. We need to have a long-term plan and a short-term plan. A long-term plan is set up to achieve your ultimate goal. After a long period of study, what level of learning status do you hope you can achieve? Therefore, in the long-term study plan, it is necessary to make a short-term plan. Short-term planning requires refining your tasks, and for me, I divide each week into a period. At the end of each week, I assess whether I have achieved the goals I set at the beginning of the week. Then I reward myself or punish myself based on how well the goal is achieved. The reward could be playing video games, spending money, and eating a big meal; the punishment could be spending more time studying, practicing calligraphy, and doing nasty sports. These mechanisms are simple but undeniably effective.