"f u cn rd ths u mst uz unix"
-- unknown

If you're coming from [Windows], or a [Mac], or basically anything besides [UNIX], UNIX will not make sense to you at first. It will seem [cryptic], [archaic], and you'll probably feel like it's unneccesarily difficult to do anything useful. You're right, it is--at first. The beauty of it, however, is that once you develop a set of [instincts], you'll find that things magically work out the way you expect them to. You'll pick up a new [tool] and find out you already know how to use it. The key is developing these instincts. So I offer you the following steps.

learn how to use a text editor: you will be editing text a lot. I recommend [VIM], but reasonable people differ. Not only will this make you more efficient at doing something you'll do a lot, but you'll develop some of those instincts: for example, if you get used to moving around with h, j, k, and space, you'll find that you'll feel more comfortable with [mutt] the first time you use it.
Explore all the [text file]s in the [/etc] directory structure. The better distros will have these files liberally [commented]. This will also help you become more proficient with your text editor.
Become familiar with the basic operations of the [shell]. Know how to create directories, copy files, delete files, etc. At a bare minimum, be familiar with [cd], [cp], [rm], [ls], [mkdir], and [mv]. Become addicted to [tab completion] while you're at it.
[Read]. A lot. The [HOWTO]s at www.linuxdoc.org are wonderful. You can read the [man page]s (manual) for any command by typing:
```
$ man <command>
```
at the prompt. These will probably not seem very useful at first, but they are a wonderful reference later on. Whenever you come across a [command] you don't understand, make it a habit to at least skim the man page
Learn about [regular expressions]: Once you have at least a basic understanding of them, you'll realize that those massive strings of random [punctuation] aren't anything to be afraid of, and you just might find them useful sometime.
Learn a scripting language: I like [Perl], though I used to hate it and others still do. [Python] is gaining popularity, and has a rich set of standard class libraries. In any case, scripting is an integral part of working in a UNIX environment, and will make the experience much nicer.
Try more than one variety of UNIX: This will help you to know which things are specific to one flavor of UNIX, and which are universal.
Read man pages for [system calls]: find out what makes UNIX UNIX.
Browse the [kernel] source
Write a driver
Write a UNIX-like OS from scratch.
Make yourself a super-hero cape that says "[UNIX MAN]!"

steps to UNIX familiarity (idea)