I can get around a server to some degree, but everything I have learned has been as I have needed to learn it. Every once in a while I will learn about some new command that will revolutionize how I think about systems and networking, and realize how I could have been using it this whole time if only I had known about it. Anything to bring someone from novice to some kind of fluency? Do I just need to earn the battle scars bit by bit over the course of years? (I mean of course I do but what can I do to help it be not quite so painful?)

For instance, I am still fuzzy on all of networking. Any help would be greatly appreciated.