Learning through struggle is at the heart of growth.
This article is part of our Leadership Series — reflections on inspiration, influence, and the choices that shape meaningful achievement.
Nobody gets muscles by watching me lift weights. — Arnold Schwarzenegger
A German Integration Course
Earlier this year, I took a three-month German integration course.
The entire program was conducted in German — no shortcuts, no switching to English.
Some students leaned heavily on their translation apps, even though our teacher reminded us (often) not to rely on them.
If we got vocabulary or grammar wrong, it didn’t matter.
Because the struggle was the point.
We needed to carry the cognitive load ourselves.
When exam day arrived, each of us had to speak — on demand — with the official test proctors.
No script
No app
No lifeline
And all those weeks I’d spent practicing “Auf dem Bild sehe ich …” finally paid off.
Even on the days I felt lost or slow.
Because that’s what learning through struggle really looks like — slow and imperfect.
Each One of Us Must Decide
I think about struggle and cognitive load a lot — because it’s not just about learning a language.
These days, each of us has a decision to make:
What expertise will I master through real, personal effort?
And what can I safely delegate to AI or other tools?
Learning Through Struggle: My Concern
My concern is simple — and not new.
If we offload too much, for too long, we risk cognitive decline.
That thought scares me.
It’s why I appreciate Arnold Schwarzenegger’s quote so much.
Because fluency doesn’t come from an app.
And muscles don’t come from watching someone else lift weights.
Related reading: Why I Keep Writing — And Why You Might Too
Thank You for Reading
I regularly share stories, strategies, and insights from our work across Contact Centers, Customer Service, and Customer Experience. If this resonates, I’d love to stay connected.
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Daniel Ord
[email protected]
www.omnitouchinternational.com
