So you had an issue and needed to restart training. This happens to 20% of my students. Now try to leverage the situation!
Hell with shame
People have the prejudice that failing once or trice should mean something. In fact, many highly successful people failed dozens of times in a row without giving up.
If you happened to quit because there was a health issue in your family, or because your startup was acquired, there is no shame. Why should there be any shame if you happened to explore an alternative, or got discouraged by slow progress? What matters: you are back to business.
Prepared brain
It does not matter that you need to start from the beginning. Now you understand the way ahead and your brain will be prepared for it. Not only your progress will be significantly faster and smoother than the first time, but you might also notice the mistake you made and do everything right the second time.
When not using an overlearned skill actively for a while, it may become dormant. Reactivating the skill may cause it to become automatic. Automatic skills are very fast and effortless, e.g. extremely effective. Probably all of the best practitioners experience several setbacks and recoveries.
Sort of start from scratch
While you sort of restart your training from scratch, you can combine simple and more advanced exercises from the beginning. It takes time for others to prepare their brains. You can focus on the correct technique from the beginning.
You can also use the resources you did not know about or did not want to use previously. For example, you can buy an advanced course on Thinkific or 1:1 with Anna. Wise people often value their time far more than a couple of dollars.
Higher motivation
Those who quit but return usually have very high motivation. The simple understanding that the chosen path is the best alternative is enough. There is also a desire to correct the wrongs and prove worthy. Those who quit and restart tend to work harder and succeed better than before.
The goals are also more realistic. If you try the training for the first time, you might want to get 1200wpm at 90% retention within 8 weeks. The second time, most people are more than happy to triple their reading speed and retention.
Do not stop practicing
With all the encouragement and the advantages above, we do not recommend restarting. It is always best to continue training. If you do not have 90 min per day, spend 15 min. Do not stop practicing.
A short break of up to 3 months does not require a fresh start. Three months are more than enough to deal with 90% of stuff the life throws at us. Restarting once is OK, restarting multiple time is not good for your confidence and not effective.
Multiple starts
People who divorce once are often happy and content in the second marriage. Those who divorced twice may often try again but are less likely to succeed.
There are certain character flaws or fundamental misunderstandings that prevent a happy ending. Instead of trying again and again, after the second time it makes sense to find out what needs to be changed.
Most barriers can be detected and overcome with the right sort of coaching. Maybe you cannot do the process yourself, but with a capable teacher, you can definitely be optimistic.
