> make significant progress towards competency in a new skill by putting in a MODICUM of time, effort and attention.

But even that is not always true. There are some activities where it's hard to see meaningful progress for awhile, but then once you've built up an adequate base you start progressing more rapidly.

These kinds of articles tend to be popular because they make people think that it's easy to learn new things. This is an inspiring idea and if it results in people learning more things then it might even be a beneficial thing to say. But I think it's more beneficial to promote the value of deliberate focused effort (hard work if you will), because some things simply don't come easily.