You can learn new things. Pixel art, touch typing, 3d modelling, music, calligraphy, wood working, knitting, a language. Whatever is practical and calls to you, you can learn.世间技艺，浩如烟海。无论是像素绘画、盲打输入、三维建模，或是音律、书法、木工、针织、外语，但凡实用且合你心意，皆可潜心研习。
In the long term, learning new things is fun and makes life richer in ways you can’t even imagine, and it’s a time investment that will pay dividends for life as these skills never really go away. There are even social aspects, as you’ll quite literally become a more interesting person to talk to.长远来看，求知之乐，妙不可言，能令人生境界迥异于前。这番光阴投入，足可受用终身，技艺一旦入身，便如内力深藏，永不磨灭。况且技多不压身，谈吐间亦能引人入胜，平添几分社交气度。
It requires some time, usually up to an hour a day. That’s genuinely too much for some people, and if you work 80 hour weeks and/or have infants ricocheting around your home like screaming DVD logos, then you may want to put this ambition aside for now and deal with that instead. If on the other hand you spend any amount of time each day scrolling your phone while Netflix plays something you’re half-watching on a screen across the room, you do have time!研习技艺，非一日之功，每日须得拨冗一小时。若阁下每日奔波八十余小时，或家中幼子喧闹如惊雷，那便暂且搁置雄心，先安顿好家事。若阁下每日虚掷光阴，只知刷屏看剧，那便断无“没时间”之理，当真只是心未定耳。
There’s many (bordering on too many) learning resources out there for almost anything, on youtube, on reddit, on wikis, in books. You’ll want to avoid overloading on information when starting out, just find some starting point that doesn’t look like a sales funnel and go from there, at your own pace.当今之世，求学资源多如繁星，YouTube、Reddit、各类百科与书籍，俯拾皆是。初学者最忌贪多嚼不烂，只需寻得一处清净门径，莫要误入那些虚头巴脑的营销陷阱，循序渐进，方为正途。
Many adults haven’t done this in a while, and many haven’t ever done self-directed study, so it’s time for some expectation management:许多人久疏学业，更未曾尝试过自学之道，故而心境须先行调理，莫要好高骛远。
While you practice the thing you want to learn, you will not feel good, especially not starting out. This honestly is a bit of an understatement, it really sucks and depending on the task, odds are you may want to lie down for a bit when you’re done with your first practice session. You’ll also almost certainly perform significantly worse toward the end of the session. All this is your brain and muscles getting tired. It’s a good meta-skill to learn to self-assess and pick up on this.习练之初，定会觉周身酸涩、心神俱疲，这实乃常态。甚至练完第一场，恨不得倒头便睡，此皆因脑筋与筋骨尚在磨合。若觉愈练愈钝，那便是气力耗尽，此时学会审视自身、张弛有度，方是修行的上乘心法。
Learning something completely new from scratch is really awful, and at this point most people are very disheartened and want to give up, which is unfortunate, because if they got back to it the next day, they’d find it’s actually gotten tangibly easier.万事起头难，初学之时最易心灰意冷，生出退却之念。殊不知，若能咬牙撑过，次日再练，便会觉豁然开朗，技艺竟已悄然精进。
Practice is when you gather data for the brain to process overnight. Sleep is when improvements happen. You should go in with this expectation. During the practice sessions you’ll either see no improvements or a slow degradation.练功之时，实则是在为大脑搜集素材；待入梦之后，方是精进之时。务必心怀此念：练功期间，若觉毫无长进，甚至略有退步，皆是必经之径，切莫惊慌。
Your improvements will plateau after a while, and you will have climbed Mt. Awful and arrived on the long logarithmic plateau of being a mediocre intermediate. At this point you’ll be good enough to actually have some practical use of your skills, so from here on it’s easier to pick up incidental practice and progress without having to grind. How to climb past this stage is beyond the scope of this article, most people honestly never even make it this far.练到一定火候，便会遇上瓶颈，犹如攀上“苦难峰”后，又陷入漫长的平原。此时你虽已小有所成，足以应付实用，但若想更进一步，便不能再如初学时那般苦磨。至于如何突破此境，非三言两语可尽，且世人多半止步于此，能更进一步者，已是凤毛麟角。
How long to practice each day varies with the task, but usually something like 30-45 minutes unless the thing requires a lot of long breaks, then longer. Practicing longer than that just makes you tired and sloppy and then you’ll ingrain all the mistakes you make. Stopping when you start making a lot of mistakes is a good cue.每日练多久，全看所学之物，通常三四十分钟为宜。若练得太久，心神涣散，反倒将错漏之处刻入骨髓。一旦觉察错漏频出，便是身体在提醒你：该收功了。
What practice looks like is a lot dependent on the skill, if you picked 3D modelling you may be following along with some video tutorial in Blender, and if you picked touch typing maybe you’re grinding away at keybr. You’ll want to pace yourself, daily deliberate practice is what makes you better. Focus on the basics when you’re a beginner, if applicable, practicing stuff you aren’t ready for isn’t helpful, neither is mainlining reddit threads about really advanced topics. Learning something new is a long journey, and you really don’t get there quicker by rushing advanced concepts.练功之法，因技而异。若是三维建模，便跟着教程一步步修整；若是盲打，便在键盘上苦练。切记“专注”二字，初学者当打好根基，莫要好高骛远去钻研那些深奥玄妙的理论。求学之路漫漫，唯有脚踏实地，方能登堂入室。
Learning anything is a long term project, and long term projects are necessary for building a sense of control over your circumstances. Almost nothing can be deliberately and meaningfully changed within the scope of a day, but in months, certainly years, a lot of things can be made to happen.求学乃是长久之计，唯有持之以恒，方能掌控自身命运。世间之事，难求一日之功，然若以月计、以年计，则滴水穿石，终能成就一番事业。