My husband and I recently went axe throwing. Yes, that’s right!
At first, the fact that we were going to pay a NOT SMALL AMOUNT OF MONEY to throw an axe at a wall seemed…well, ludicrous to me.
In the first hour I decided that, as recreational activities go, axe throwing is actually pretty fun. It begins as a very novel skill that appears to be easy to pick up.
But as time went on, I realized that it’s not that simple to throw an axe at a board and make it stay there. And it wasn’t just us. The people next to us on both sides were not any more skilled than we were after an hour of throwing.
Of course, as an executive function educator, I had to ask myself, wait…why is it so dang hard for my brain to achieve this?
We had all listened to verbal instructions on how to throw the axe, we all watched another person do it successfully, and then we threw the axe. My expectation was that after a few throws, I would be successful too.
But noooo. This was not the case. As it turns out, after receiving instruction, you have to:
Throw the axe.
And throw the axe.
And then throw the axe some more.
Then you need more instruction.
You look at how everyone else is throwing the axe.
You evaluate your technique.
Then you throw again.
And again, and again.
It was exhausting. And frustrating.
By the end of the night, my “get the sharp thing to stick in the wall” success rate was about 10%. I was frustrated and didn’t feel like I improved. My husband fared a little better and beat me at the tic-tac-toe game.
What Axe Throwing Taught Me About How the Brain Learns
Now why do I bring this up? Is it so you can see how happy my husband gets when he wins? Sure, but that is not the only reason. The big question is: what was happening in my brain during that experience?
I realized this is a real life example of how the brain learns. Instruction, practice, evaluation, adjustments, and repeat. It is not that I am incapable of learning the skill, I just didn’t devote enough time to be proficient at it.
Why Practice Is the Missing Piece
As John Medina, author of Brain Rules, tells us, “we don’t remember what we don’t pay attention to.” That’s why repetition is so critical for skill development. It is vital for all learning, including the support of executive functioning. Repeat to remember, remember to repeat!
And this idea of practice being the missing piece in creating lasting executive function improvement is finally being researched – and I am excited to be a part of it! Last spring I was involved with a Portland State University research team in looking at executive functioning skills and how these skills are supported in school. Our paper on the subject is being presented at the California State University Northridge Center on Disabilities conference in March. One of the key insights that the paper highlights is the continuing need for support and practice when it comes to executive skills.
(Psst…I will part of the team presenting the paper! If you would like to join me and chat about executive functioning, or go axe throwing, let me know…julie@efsuccess.info. I would love to see you there).
From Learning Skills to Building Momentum
In light of this research and others about executive functioning, we want to offer the best practice possible here at Executive Functioning Success. I’m so excited to share that we are working on launching a new program this Spring, which we are calling Momentum Sessions. This program is an addition to the Seeing My Time® curriculum.
It is not a re-teaching of skills, but an opportunity to continue to practice the support of your newly learned skills with a private teacher. In other words, we not only want to teach you how to throw the axe, but to have access to practice throwing it. This step is where skills become habits and where structure leads to true independence. We will be sending out more information about this offering next month, so make sure you are signed up for our newsletter!
And for those of you who are wondering if I have plans to become a professional axe-thrower…the answer is no. But I might just go back and work on getting better.
Just to show my husband who’s boss.
Happy learning,
