Until I started teaching my own children things I never put in any thought to how amazing it really is that children can learn things like sitting up, crawling, speaking, following instructions, packing away, brushing hair, walking, running, reading….the list goes on and on.
Sometimes a person may have different reasons for having trouble learning a particular thing. They may need help or redirection. They (and I) sometimes definitely need encouragement and persuasion.
Beyond that, as an adult learning new things can be particularly HARD and a big brain strain! I find that whilst time blocking definitely helps because you can give individual focus on the ‘thing’ you are learning but add in a job, responsibilities and the hardest thing of all….young children to look after I think that it can be REALLY challenging to learn new things and retain information.
For me I have realised that sometimes I need to put things on the back burner for awhile AND let go of any guilt to do with it.
For example: If you feel you HAVE to visit a relative once a month and bring a dessert. Maybe you current capacity is to visit but bring a store bought thing (or nothing at all)? Or maybe you need to not visit at all?
Here is another example:
You want to learn Spanish and you signed up for something. You may have even paid money for it. There are choices you still have:
Stop doing the course.
Ask for a refund or to pause the program for a time.
Dedicate time to doing your lessons one or a few times a week.
See if maybe someone else wants to take over the course.
I think a key thing is to assess all the things you do and WHY you do them. Are your motives pure but when you dig deep you realise you are just doing what you have always done? Are you afraid of stopping? Do you feel obligation to keep going?
Sometimes it isn’t stopping but its changing, doing things differently. I think it starts with letting go of ‘would, should and could’. Its time to let go of worry.
Now, let’s say it IS something you want to do.
For me it was getting up early. For YEARS I would see saw between getting up early and sleeping in like a sluggard. I wasn’t controlling myself and making a clear decision.
My decision was driven but indecision.
I had either read something on the internet about how getting up early is ‘the best’ thing to do, or I saw a friend (or stranger) getting up early and reading her Bible by candlelight or making a green smoothie and I would worry I wasn’t doing life right.
I do want to explain that I wasn’t (and am not) a nutcase over this. i made these realisations after taking the time to think about my motives for and against getting up early after I decided that I really DID want to get up early.
