Three important things to know about me:

I am a terrible student.
I feel defeated when something doesn’t click for me quickly.
I am very stubborn

Learning a new skill is incredibly uncomfortable for me. Part of me believes I’ve landed in the roles of yoga teacher, personal trainer, and dog trainer because they’re all skills that come easily for me. I love to linger when I’m confident in what I’m doing.

A couple years ago I tried to learn a new skill. Initially I was pretty good at the skill. After my first attempt I thought, That was a lot easier than I thought it would be! A couple months later I went back to practice the new skill and I had a very different experience. I was terrible! I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong and I left feeling totally defeated.

It took me a while to go back and revisit the skill. Again, I was very bad at the skill. After multiple tries at this new skill I could never duplicate how well I performed the skill the first time. Beginners luck, I suppose.

After consistently performing very badly at this new skill, I decided it was time to get some help from a professional. It was brought to my attention that a professional coach was going to be in the Twin Cities offering group lessons. As I was scrolling through the registration page for the group lessons I noticed the coach was also offering private lessons while they were in town. I was conflicted. I could spend less money and get some help on in a group setting. Or I could spend more money and get personalized attention.

I went with the personalized attention.

Last month I spent two hours with a professional coach and I can wholeheartedly tell you I made the right decision by scheduling that private lesson. It was worth every penny! It was so empowering to have an experienced professional see me do the skill, adjust my technique, and breakdown my challenges in a way that landed for me. I left our lesson feeling like I actually understood what I was doing and I was excited to try the skill on my own.

I’m intentionally choosing to leave the specifics of the skill out of this blog post for a number of reasons. I’m mainly leaving out the details because the skill I’m working on could easily be replaced with a new skill you’re exploring. There’s an abundance of professionals, like the one I worked with, who have endless knowledge on a subject and they’re ready to share their expertise with you!

Just the other week a friend told me she was having a hard time planning her meals. She’s been struggling with low energy and she’s not prioritizing her nutrition. In order to turn things around she’s decided to work with a nutritionist because she needed some education and support from a professional.

Need nutrition advice? Want to learn how to garden? Curious about how to do a pull-up? Want to brush up on your Spanish skills because 10th grade Spanish class just isn’t going to cut it on your next vacation in Mexico?

Hire the professional!

If you truly want to learn something, seriously, hire the professional. I promise you won’t regret it.