Ask HN: What's your preferred method of learning something completely new?

I like to have a useful goal. It helps me find purpose and complete the task. Then I might do some reading or other research to learn the basics. Then I try to do whatever it is. I evaluate how it went and do more research to make improvements.

For example, I want to grow mushrooms. First I start with a grow your own kit. Then I read a book by an expert. Then I bought mushroom plugs for logs. Now I built some equiptment, learned sterile techniques, and I am culturing mushrooms to create my own mushroom plugs.