Is there something you’ve been struggling to learn? Maybe you should look at how you’ve been learning it. I just realized this for myself. 

When the biopic of Michael Jackson came out, I went to see it three times. I was inspired by how the lead actor, Jaafar Jackson (Michael’s nephew), took two years to learn how to dance like Michael Jackson. So, I decided to look up tutorials on how to do some “MJ” moves myself.

I’ve always been a big fan of Michael Jackson’s music. Whenever Billie Jean plays at weddings, I’m the first person on the dance floor. What I lack in skills as a dancer, I make up for in enthusiasm. But, when I’ve taken group dance lessons as an adult, I’ve felt frustrated because I couldn’t keep up with the other adult learners. I figured that I must actually be uncoordinated. The movie inspired me to try again, and also to exercise different parts of my brain.

There are a lot of tutorials on how to mimic Michael Jackson’s moves on YouTube. With Carrie and her YouTube channel, Beginning Dance Tutorials, I was able to learn the basic steps of “Beat It” in a 20 min video. I couldn’t believe it. 

What changed? 

After comparing this video to others, I realized that Carrie, the instructor, had her back to me, which meant I was shadowing her as we danced in the same direction. In almost every other tutorial, the teacher is facing the camera, like in a mirror. It made me realize that my real life dance instructors also faced me. This observation gave me an epiphany. What I thought was my own lack of coordination was actually my brain’s inability to make the cognitive flip to translate the instructor’s moves to how I should move because we were facing opposite directions.

I imagine feeling like someone who is diagnosed with dyslexia that comes to understand why it’s hard for them to read in a standard way. Once I learned how I learn differently, I knew I was capable of mimicking moves as long as I shadowed from behind.

As someone who conducts training, it reminds me to try to approach teaching my concepts in a variety of different ways to accommodate different learning styles.

Have you ever had this experience of discovering you just needed a different teaching style? Or is there something with which you’ve been frustrated that you can’t learn? Maybe you just need to explore what is making it difficult for you to learn.

I’d love to hear from you. something because it feels like you risk rejection? If so, please tell me about it, or ask away. I’d love to hear from you. 

Best,