This one requires some humility – but the payoff is priceless. What am I talking about here? Learning from those who know more than you. Here’s how it works: first, in your own mind, be honestly aware of what you don’t know. This requires self-awareness and insight, but if you’re an adult then you should have some concept of your strengths and shortcomings. Don’t worry if this isn’t completely clear – truly understanding who you are is a life long process.
Secondly, learn to be a good judge of character, so you can tell who is full of shit and who isn’t. This will make it easier to completely ignore those assholes who are full of shit, so you can get to the main point of this post, which is this: When you find someone who possesses useful knowledge that you don’t, make friends with this person and listen very carefully to what they have to say. It won’t all be gold, but you can learn more from someone like this in five minutes than you could reading an entire textbook. Pay very close fucking attention without seeming like a dick.
Listen and learn.