Day 25: ...but a bit of rest won't hurt!

Just to provide a bit of balance to yesterday's tip.  'Effort all the way over the hill' does not mean 'full on, maximum effort, all the time'.  (If you are pursuing a fitness goal, this type of strategy only leads to injury, fatigue from over-training or simply loss of motivation).  It can be the same in any other goal.  Trying to be perfect or do everything all at once, while learning a new skill is a surefire way to failure in the long term.  High effort needs to be balanced with periods of recovery, so our tip for the day is:

Tip 25:  Rest is part of your workout  (whatever your goal is)

If your goal involves physical effort, a regular and planned rest day is an opportunity for the body to recover.  If your goal is not so physical, you still need to give yourself time to relax, review your progress and plan next steps, based on what you have learned so far.  A rest period is not a day off from your training/learning - it is part of it.  Give it the same amount of attention as you would on any other day.

PS If you want a non-sports example, you might find the following one interesting.  I play guitar and many of my fellow guitarists say they have the same experience, of trying to learn a new piece, struggling with it, leaving it alone for a day or so.  On return to the piece somehow the mind has had a chance to talk to your fingers and it seems that you made more progress when you put the guitar down than on the previous day where you worked your fingers to the bone.

Proper, planned rest is good, rest is your friend!  Use it wisely.