This is about learning, and learning is hard. Doesn’t matter if its learning skill, a theory, or anything else what we can bundle into the category of learning
I am learning to be a latin dancer. I would love to get to the point where I am as good as these guys.
Take posture for example. One of my early teachers taught me about posture, how to keep the shoulders back, which muscles in the back to use for this. This technical way of looking at things works well for me. After I received this information I was able to stand much straighter, for about a week, then it vanished. I was able to use the information, but not make the change permanent.
Sometime later, when doing an intro session as a new gym, the instructor told me to think of opening out my shoulders, so that when my hands were by my side the faced forward. Doing this caused the same muscles in the back to work. I was inspired, realised it was a different way of thinking of the same information, was once again able to hold my shoulders as I wanted. Again just for about a week.
Next my partner tried drawing me a diagram, of how my back looked in comparison to how other guys backs’ looked. This motivated me once again on the final solution. This brought back both previous pieces of information, and again worked – just for a while.
Last week I once again had a lesson with the same teacher from the first paragraph. She explained the same information as before. Along with some other information, which she also gave me in the first time, but that didn’t make sense at the time. However, now it did make sense. Once again I feel I can make progress with holding my posture as I want it.
History says that I won’t manage to hold the improvement this time. But I think otherwise. There is something different. The “other information that didn’t make sense first time round” – and now does. In all the time that had passed I was learning lots of other things. Sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously. These built a conceptual framework allowing me to put using back muscles into context (which in this case means generating smoother stepping action and a few other things).
This is why learning is hard. Because the benefits of individual steps are not always clear. All the improvement does it make you ready to accept the next piece of learning, the one that has visible results. When you are making improvements you don’t know, its hard to maintain motivation of self discipline.
