Fast to track to becoming a better FX artist

So, I know learning FX can be pretty tough. No one really teaches it and there usually little to no documentation. Add to that it's hard to have a good eye for what you are trying to create. But I do have a tip for giving yourself more technical skills. CG Talk. Now this sounds kinda weird but stay with me for a bit. Most people go to CG Talk with their problems. Like "how do I make fire?" Or "maya crashed what do I do?" Which by the way, don't post those questions, they're annoying and show that you haven't done any ground work and want someone to just hold you hand and feed you the answer. Which is not how art works. But there is a much better way to use the forums. Look for posts where people ask legitimate questions or have some problems with their setups and instead of thinking, "Oh, no one has an answer, I'll just move on." Go and find an answer for them. It's not for them, it's for you. Just digging around will teach you so much. I can't tell you how many tricks I've added to my skill set just by looking at some guys crazy weird problem. They may not help you right now, but any knowledge here is good. And if you can't fix the problem the very least you can do is recreate it. Life's not going to hand you a magic skill set when you get out of college. No on in born an artist, you have to work at it. Anyway, thought I would share some exercises that I do with you.