The Learning Engine 13 January 2026 Learn21 — Why I Built the System A good day to you! I want to tell you why I built Learn21. In college, I was doing many different activities: Varsity soccer; leadership in campus ministry; physics research with professors I admired; a full social life; and, studying physics as my major. With every activity, I was intense. But I kept walking out of physics exams wanting to cry. I would sit down at the beginning of the exam and look at the problems, then...
3 days ago • 1 min read
The Learning Engine 9 January 2026 Launching Learn21! A good day to you! I know you're trying hard. Managing up and down, putting out fires in both directions. Drowning in emails during the day, then watching YouTube videos at night hoping something clicks. Waking up the next morning no further along than you were the day before. You're putting in the effort, but there's no system to see what is actually working. I built something for this challenge. Learn21 is a 21-day guided experience to...
7 days ago • 1 min read
The Learning Engine 31 December 2025 Newsletter 039: Thanks for a great 2025 — onto an exciting 2026! Greetings and salutations — and happy New Year! Thanks for coming along on this journey with The Learning Engine throughout 2025! There has been a lot of interesting progress and growth for The Learning Engine, so I'm thankful for the opportunity to share the ideas with you through this newsletter. Here are a few of my best newsletters from 2025: Learning How to Learn — The Ultimate...
16 days ago • 1 min read
The Learning Engine 2 December 2025 Newsletter 038: What Removing Play-Doh from Clothes Taught Me about Learning Greetings and salutations! A quick note: I was on a podcast recently, having a wide-ranging discussion on learning! The ideas in the podcast flow from my general thinking on learning, connecting the theoretical ideas with practical solutions — I hope you enjoy! A Story Have you ever tried to get Play-Doh out of clothes? With two small children, getting Play-Doh out of clothes has...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
The Learning Engine 21 November 2025 Podcast: "MBV Episode #83: Nathan Belcher, Learning Engine" Greetings! This week I had the pleasure of recording a podcast with Sue Maguire and Sandy Dickson, discussing learning -- both theoretically and practically. We had a wonderful chat, so I know you'll enjoy the podcast! Link to the podcast: MBV Episode #83: Nathan Belcher, Learning Engine All the best! Have comments or questions about any part of this newsletter? Please reply and let me know — I...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
The Learning Engine 17 November 2025 Newsletter 037: “Begin with the End in Mind” Greetings and salutations! A quick note: I have created short courses for eight different people on “learning how to learn.” I believe that deeply understanding how to learn is the most important part of life, helping you gain agency and wisdom in every part of life. To access the short courses, visit The Learning Engine’s website! Let’s get into the stories, lessons, and questions for next steps on “begin with...
2 months ago • 4 min read
The Learning Engine 10 November 2025 Newsletter 036: Tuning in to the Rhythms for Learning Greetings and salutations! A quick note: I have created short courses for eight different people on “learning how to learn.” I believe that deeply understanding how to learn is the most important part of life, helping you gain agency and wisdom in every part of life. To access the short courses, visit The Learning Engine’s website! Now, onto this edition of the newsletter — which will focus on rhythms...
2 months ago • 5 min read
The Learning Engine 24 September 2025 Newsletter 035: The Underrated Power of Background Knowledge Greetings and salutations! A big thanks for reading this newsletter — this edition will focus on the power of background knowledge, with some implications that you can use in your life. Let’s get into the ideas, stories, and questions! Ideas The power of background knowledge is underrated. Humans have a reasonable understanding of simple one-to-one relationships: One part changes, which makes...
4 months ago • 6 min read
The Learning Engine 17 August 2025 Newsletter 034: Version 2 of Belcher’s “Model for Learning” Greetings and salutations! Welcome to another semester of ideas and applications on learning; thanks for joining and continuing to read this newsletter! My family and I moved to the Lisbon, Portugal area at the beginning of August. The move has taken a ton of time and effort, limiting my creative output. However, we are now getting stabilized by finding a long-term apartment (that we love!) and...
5 months ago • 2 min read
