Mar 30

Stick With It: Week 5- Another Week Bites the Dust

What is the 'Stick with It' Challenge all about? 

Our Director Natalie Savery, has taken on a challenge which will help us to explore what we know about learning, leadership and all things related. 

She's chosen a song to learn from scratch, and from now until the end of March, she’ll be documenting her progress each week and reflecting on what helps us learn and grow. 

If you want to know more about the challenge, check out Natalie's Linked In post here 

View the video for the fourth and final week of the challenge 
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After last week’s motivation dip and lack of practice, I started this week with a clear plan: I would practice daily and get back on track.

I didn’t quite stick to that. I still avoided the kit for a few days after my last update. But when I did finally play, it wasn’t as bad as I expected. In fact, it went… fine. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it, but it was much better than I remembered.

One key difference? I stopped pushing myself to play at full speed. I let go of the pressure to hit 135 BPM and settled into something more realistic—around 120 BPM. That small shift changed everything. The parts felt more in control. The flow returned. The mistakes were still there, but they weren’t putting me off.

This made me reflect on how we often expect people to leave the classroom and instantly operate at full speed in the workplace. But learning doesn't work like that. We need space to slow down, find our rhythm, and build fluency gradually. 

Don't Stop the Music

Another big step this week was playing along to the full track. Up until now, I’d only listened to the backing track for context, but playing with the song changed everything.

It showed me how each part fits into the whole arrangement—where the accents fall, when to hold back, and when to lean in. I began to feel the shape of the song, not just the patterns within the bars.

There’s a workplace learning parallel here too: we only truly grasp a skill when we apply it in context. Practice is vital, but performance in the real environment reveals what still needs adjusting. It’s where learning becomes real.

As well as the benefits of playing to the music, there were also some drawbacks when it came to recording the video and playing during my lesson. 

I usually practise with headphones, so I can hear the track clearly. But when recording, I had to play the music through a speaker—and the drums often drowned it out. I couldn’t always hear whether I was in time.

That made me think about how critical feedback is to learning. Without the track guiding me, I was missing key cues. Just like in the workplace, if we don’t get clear, timely feedback, we can drift off course without realising it.

It also reminded me how different it feels to play for myself vs. playing for an audience. Sharing progress publicly—like we ask learners to do in presentations, meetings, or applied projects—adds pressure. It’s a skill in itself, and one we often overlook when supporting others to learn.

Go Your Own Way

But by playing with the track, I've also finally revealed what I've actually been learning to play: Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac.

I chose it partly because it’s a brilliant song and I love a bit of Fleetwood Mac. Next to 'The Chain' this is my favourite track of theirs and I love to belt it out as I'm driving! (Do with that information what you will!) 

But more importantly, I felt it was a great message for this challenge. I truly believe that, when it comes to learning, there isn't just one way.  There’s no single path or pace that works for everyone. Learning isn’t a one-size-fits-all process.

We have to find what works for us—what pace, what style, what support, what conditions help us grow.

The title felt especially fitting this week. I may not have played it exactly as it’s meant to be played, and I certainly didn’t hit every note, but I’ve found my own way through the challenge—and that’s what matters. I may have even improvised a little during the recording... 

You Can't Always Get What you Want

I didn’t reach my original goal of being able to play it without difficulty by the end of the challenge. I’m not playing the song cleanly at full speed, but I am playing it through, with fewer mistakes, greater awareness, and more confidence than I thought possible a week ago.

I’ve had to adapt and evolve my goal several times—from “play it well” to “just play it,” to “play it better,” then “play it a bit faster.” And actually, I’m proud of that.

Because being adaptable in learning is critical. We set goals based on what we think we can do—but real progress comes when we respond to what’s happening in practice.

From here, I’m going to keep playing. I’m not done with the song yet, and I think there’s still plenty of learning left in it. But for now, I’m closing out this public part of the challenge feeling satisfied, reflective, and a bit more forgiving of the messiness of learning.

Thanks for following along.