When you’re a child, you have a superpower: you learn incredibly quickly. You soak knowledge up like a sponge. The only condition is that your heart needs to be in it. (This is known as enrollment.)

This turns out to matter a lot, because you’re not always in control; you haven’t learned to trick yourself into feeling enthusiasm yet. Thin rewards and thick rewards feel the same. If you could choose between going to Chinese school on Saturday morning, and sleeping in and watching cartoons, you’d most likely choose the latter. (Most adults would too.) 

More often than not, when you’re a kid, a grown up resorts to forcing, rewarding, or punishing you into learning something. That squishes the intrinsic fun out of the process. A handful of grown ups are patient and skilled enough to get you enrolled into learning things you’re interested in, though. If you’re lucky enough to come across one of these people, teachers in one way or another, they will change your life. (Not every child is lucky enough.)

When you’re an adult, you learn slower than you did as a child. It takes you more concentration, and there are more stresses and problems on your mind. But you gain a new superpower: you’re better at putting your heart into your work. You’re more patient, focused, and motivated. You have the power to make learning fun. You can learn to enroll yourself.
Even though it takes longer for you to learn something new, you know better how to shape and cultivate your passion. You also know what it takes to be effective, and you’re willing to commit.