The whole loop, on one page

1. The loop

This is the entire method. It fits on one page on purpose. Everything else in this chapter is one unit per step, in detail.

Read → Predict → Try → Check → Say it back.

Each rep of the loop is one small thing learned. Skip any step, and the rep doesn't count.

2. The five steps, named

1. Read. Take in a small piece of new material — a paragraph of docs, a snippet of code, an explanation from AI. Not a whole tutorial. A bite.
2. Predict. Before you run anything or reveal anything, guess what the thing does. Out loud or in writing. Commit.
3. Try. Run it, or build the smallest version of it, or apply it to a real problem. Not the toy from the docs — something you actually wanted.
4. Check. Compare what happened to what you predicted. The gap is the learning.
5. Say it back. In one sentence, in your own words, write down what you now know. If you can't write the sentence, you didn't actually learn it. Loop again.

3. Why the steps are in this order

You don't read in order to know — you read in order to predict. Prediction is the only step that creates the gap; everything before it loads the gun, everything after it interprets the result.

Most people use a broken version of this loop that goes: read → try → ship. They skip predict and check entirely. The result is that "trying" becomes copying with extra steps, and "shipping" is the only feedback they ever get — which arrives months later, in production, from a confused user. That's a terrible time to find out you didn't understand.

4. What "one rep" looks like

One rep is small. Five minutes, sometimes ten. It is not a project. It is one bite-sized question, answered all the way through.

For example:

• Read: a paragraph in the React docs about useEffect cleanup functions.
• Predict: "I think the cleanup runs once, when the component unmounts."
• Try: a tiny file with an effect that logs on cleanup, mount/unmount a few times.
• Check: "Oh — cleanup also runs before the next effect, not only on unmount. I was wrong."
• Say it back: "Cleanup runs before each next effect, and also at unmount. It's about resetting between runs, not just teardown."

That whole rep is six minutes and one upgraded mental model. Do five of those in a week and you'll feel the difference.

5. The next four pages

The next four units are one per step (skipping Read, which is just "read"). They are short. Each gives you one concrete habit you can try on your next session and feel the difference of.