Overcome Learner's Block

When people stumble across something they want to do, often an inner monologue will begin where they convince themselves that they will never be successful if they pursued it. Whether it be starting a blog, a YouTube channel, learning graphic design or writing a book, a voice inside of their head begins bargaining with them that it isn’t worth the effort because they will never succeed at it. Trust me when I say that I have experienced this many times in my life, but as a result, I have also figured out how to get over this initial block and simply lunge into the task and get going. I want to share 3 tips that I personally use to get over what I call “Learner’s Block”, which is the mental barrier that keeps you from whatever you want to learn or do.

Wanting Is Enough

The first thing people will try and convince themselves of is ‘This is not going to help me in my life’. They will try and list reasons as to why putting time into a certain activity or skill is not going to be worth it simply because they will not be able to use it for something useful, or monetize it some way. I would I like to ask a simple question from those people: Do you want to do it? If the answer to that question is “Yes”, then you have enough reasons to start.

See, don’t let hustle culture or society convince you that the only thing worth spending time on are things that will give you some kind of monetary gain or an advantage over others in the workplace. That is a toxic idea and needs to die. You wanting to spend your time on something because it makes you happy is enough. Don’t worry if you spend 10 years learning a skill that never brings you any monetary gain, because if you look back on that time and think “I really enjoyed that”, then that was time and energy well-spent. With that being said, I really don’t think there are any skills, hobbies or activities that can’t be monetized in some way in this day and age. Even if you enjoy rock collecting, there is a way for you to turn that into a source of income IF you wish to.

The human mind is wired to always want to learn and grow. We are the most advanced species on the planet. Starving your brain of the experience of learning new information is detrimental to your growth. More importantly, it is detrimental to your happiness overall. I don’t want to be someone who only has skills and interests that are somehow “monetizable”, that sounds pretty boring.

So, remember, next time you are searching for a reason to do something new, wanting to do it is enough.

It’s Easier Done Than Said

I am sure you’ve heard of the phrase “It’s easier said than done”. This implies that the thought of doing something is much easier than actually doing it (mainly due to unforeseen circumstances that you hadn’t thought of), but this can be detrimental in many ways. For one, it makes people think that a task is going to be much more difficult to learn than it actually ends up being. This fear of failure sometimes kills a person’s motivation to even start the learning process: in other words, you’ve already failed before you’ve even given it a go.

Let me put it another way. If you want to learn how to play the piano, you may start imagining yourself walking up to a piano and flawlessly executing Mozart’s ninth symphony. You may think ‘Someday, I’ll be able to play all my favorite songs for my friends, family and myself. I could teach others and have a hobby I can practice in my spare time. It will be amazing”.

Then the fear strikes. “It’s easier said than done though. What if I start and my fingers aren’t long enough to reach the keys? What if I never learn how to read sheet music? What if I’m okay at the start but two months down the line it gets too difficult?”. This fear of “what if” stems from the idea that a task is more difficult than it seems. However, to get over it, you need to understand that just starting without thinking too much about what could happen is very important.

In Neil Pasricha’s book The Happiness Equation, he talks about how tasks are sometimes “Easier done than said”. In other words, you starting to learn will allow you to see that the skill or task is actually easier to do than you initially thought. That isn’t to say it won’t get more difficult later on, but at least now that you’ve tested the waters, you have more confidence in your ability to continue. The thought of what “might” go wrong is no longer there.

So, remember, think of everything as “easier done than said” to get over the fear of failing before you even begin.

Keep It a Secret

In my experience, one of the biggest reasons people hold back from making a major change in their life or hesitate to start learning something new is the judgement from those around them. For some reason you feel weird if your family and friends suddenly see you eating healthier, learning to play a sport, or documenting your life on the internet (wink) because it is so unlike you. You’re afraid of what they might say, especially if it’s negative because that can be very demotivating. Not everyone has this problem as some people have very supportive parents, siblings and friends who encourage them to try something new and stick with it, but unfortunately, many people do have this problem. So how do we fix it?

I read a quote somewhere on Instagram a few years back that sums up the solution pretty well: “Work in silence. Let your success be the noise”. Now, I know this sounds very cheesy, and that makes sense because I found it on one of those motivational quote pages, but the essence of the quote is pretty accurate. If you are afraid of starting something new and don’t want to be judged by others due to the fear of being made fun of or being demotivated before you even start, then try your best not to tell anyone what you are doing. This allows you do dive into the task at hand without any fear of doing it perfectly or even sticking to the task. If you want to quit 2 weeks down the line for whatever reason, you can safely do so and no one will ever know. If you choose to stick to the task, you will eventually develop enough courage to go public with it as now it has become a standard practice in your life.

Fun Fact: As I sit here writing this post, no one in my life knows I’ve started a blog, and I intend to keep it that way for a couple months while I find my footing.

Sidenote: I don’t fully agree with this tip here. A part of me knows that telling people about a new endeavor can actually help you stick to the task as it creates a sense of accountability, but for starting out, it works fairly well. (I may write about the accountability aspect in another post).

So, keep it a secret for the first couple months as you explore the hobby, skill or activity.

Conclusion

With these 3 tips under my belt, I have more comfort starting something new. I understand that me wanting to do it is enough for me to begin, that starting without thinking too much about it is always easier, and that I have no obligation to tell anyone about it in the beginning. I hope these will help you to find the courage to start learning or doing something new that you’ve always wanted to.