Learning is such a difficult task, one that is made to appear so simple but is really a true challenge to anyone that wants to experience growth.  In grade school we are taught to crack open the book and take notes.  Ordered notes are even better.  Then we do a few practice problems after class, known as homework, and then its on to the next task.  Learning something complex is even harder.  Part of our brain is used for doing new, focused tasks, and part of it is for doing routine work that we can push on to the periphery of our mind, like driving a car.  We don't focus on the actions of driving, we just "do" it, and get to where we are going, accident free.

Learning new tasks requires handwritten note taking, in order to force the brain to concentrate on something for longer than a few seconds.  When reading something, the brain skims over it so fast that the concept is introduced, but hardly is it internalized.  Highlight is good, as it allows a person to turn to a page in the book and see what was first viewed as important.  Next is book marking the book, kind of like highlighting the entire page from a larger view.  The view of the whole book.  With handwritten notes, highlighting and underlining can be done.  More importantly, the book and the notes must be re-read.  This is a weakness for me.  In fact, my ritual for success should be to re-read the notes for what ever skills I'm currently studying and investing in.

Re-reading notes is a weakness of mine.  Rote memorization can be used to remember important facts, numbers, and equations.

Lastly the skills can be moved in to unconscious competence, where you don't even have to think or direct the actions of your mind, because the skill is known and internalized, and your brain will do it for you, allowing you to spend your precious focus energy on other, more important things.

Unconscious Incompetence
Conscious Incompetence
Conscious Competence
Unconscious Competence