So this is what I learned about learning when at the age of 35, when I started working on getting my driving's licence
Teacher-student connection matters. A lot!
I had 4 different driving's licence instructors and only with one the process was inefficient and cost me many difficult emotions. With 3 others, there was no such problem. It was hard to listen only to this one teacher, and of course, it was harder to learn from him. If I had lessons only with him, I would doubt myself and thought I was the one to blame because I was not bright enough or too emotional. But with the other three, it was all fine. Learning was still hard, but it wasn't blood, pain and tears.
My takeaway: if you don't feel the flow with your teacher (or textbook, or educational material), it's not worth forcing yourself. Trust yourself and spend this energy on looking for something that it will be easier to connect to. If it's impossible to change it, think about what is bugging you there and how to make it more accessible to your own needs, because your needs are important.
New material (vocabulary, concepts) initially takes a bigger toll.
Already twice this year I stepped into completely new topics for me. On one side I'm trying to understand cognitive science, on the other, the rules of traffic. Both times it felt strange how tired I was when trying to grasp the basic concepts, and I was getting dizzy in the net of new words.
Like in the gym, warming up is not the worst idea. I decided to take it slower. But most of all I stopped pushing myself too much in the beginning, and I planned to learn according to my fluency with the subject. Humility helped in not overworking myself, and giving myself more time paradoxically speeded up the whole process.
I'm not linear and neither is my education
I felt a strong need to see how the engine works, I wanted to understand all the icons on the cockpit. My instructor reluctantly explained it to me, and it helped me to get a small success of finally understanding anything when mastering driving's coordination was still too big of a challenge. Hyperlinked education takes a bit more time, but for me, it shows more context and keeps me interested.
Ask questions that are not in the program, don't get discouraged by the step-by-step approach of it will be explained/practised later. Instead, especially in the beginning, trust yourself because we all have different ways to learn. Answering real questions and needs helps in keeping motivation alive.
When it's painful, it doesn't mean it's impossible
I was this bright kid who was rewarded for the talent, not for my hard work. And now I struggle when I can't excel at something in the very beginning, I get demotivated easily and I lose faith.
What helps, is having strong motivation and keeping reminding myself about it. In the case of driving's licence, it is how much I need mobility and the independence that the car gives. This, together with the sense of fulfilling my long-term dream, supports me even when I'm failing test after test.