Week Notes S0E7 Lessons learnt from learning at pace
Originally published on Medium on July 31, 2018.
I’m lucky to have the opportunity to coach an be coached in some amazing places where the learner has to progress quickly, yet safely to achieve goals within a short period of time.
Thinking about my experiences, there are a few lessons learnt that I thought worth sharing:
Lesson 1: Dealing with unknown unknowns and Fear
Lesson 2: The importance of building muscle memory
Lesson 3: Recovery is essential
Lesson 4: It’s a fine line between being pushed enough and too much
Lesson 5: Support and safety are critical for learning with confidence
Lesson 1: Dealing with unknown unknowns and Fear
When you enter into a situation where you have zero experience, you don’t have preconceptions to influence how you respond consciously or unconsciously.
Essentially you don’t have sufficient experience/information to be scared!
As a coach you need to help the learner understand what they ‘should’ be feeling; helping them balance a healthy fear of the unknown with confidence they can overcome it and achieve the outcome they want.
Lesson 2: The importance of building muscle memory
Experience is like ‘muscle memory’; you’ve done something before, therefore you know how to respond to the same or a similar situation again and again.
Without experience you fall back to consciously deciding on the next action, and the next and the next….
Having to work up from ‘first principles’ in dynamic, fast moving situations is really hard and really tiring!
Hence it’s important to give the learner the opportunity to build their ‘muscle memory’ in relative safe or controlled environments, expecting that it will take time for the skills to become unconscious.
Lesson 3: Recovery is essential
Learning is exhausting. Not only do you have to be considering every action and consequence, you’re also processing the new experiences, dealing with new forms of stress and communicating coherently with your teacher.
There is a good reasons teenagers require so much sleep; our bodies need time to recover physically and mentally. Eating enough of the right foodstuffs and getting enough horizontal time is essential for maintaining the upward learning trajectory.
Lesson 4: It’s a fine line between being pushed enough and too much
A good teacher or coach will take a learner to the edge of their current ability, no more, no less. They know the learner can achieve what is being asked of her, even if the learner doesn’t. Equally however they’ll know when a helping hand, kind word, or warning is required to protect the learner from themselves.
We learn most effectively when under pressure; but it has the be the ‘right’ sort of pressure which facilitates learning.
Lesson 5: Support and safety are critical for learning with confidence
To learn effectively you need to feel supported and safe so if/when you do make a mistake, the consequences are minimal.
You need the assurance that whilst you’re at the edge of what you think is possible of yourself, you are still in a safe environment which will pick you up at the bottom of the hill/river/mountain if necessary.