Repetition is the mother of skill. This little gem is as old as the hill's and it’s still kicking around. Why? Because it’s true. 

My therapists at Epworth Rehab lived by the saying, repetition, repetition, repetition and it got branded into my little injured brain. 

There are many factors that have to co-exist with repetition for overall success, but repetition is the common denominator in the equation. This is why my rehab has been built around this word. Repetition, repetition, repetition has been ringing in my ears ever since I was let free. Repetition. 

I’ve mentioned before that when I had my accident I went back to the infant stages of life and I had to relearn how to do everything again. This meant that I had to recapture all the skills that I once had the freedom of utilizing, like walking and talking and wiping my own ass (yes repetition was required to nail this one too). 

To recapture the skills of life, I had to repeat the movements over and over and over and over and over and over… ok, that’s enough… and over again. Repetition.

If there was something I couldn't master, I was just told to repeat it. More often than not, the more I repeated things, the easier they’ve gotten. Repetition. 

Except for chess, it doesn’t matter how many times I play that game, I still suck at it! 

So, HERE'S the science behind repetition. I’ve done quite a bit of research on this in the past so I have a fair idea of what I’m talking about, but I’m not a scientist so if you are using this blog for your TBI thesis, the joke's on you my friend. Ha, no but seriously, if you are trying to research the effects of repetition on the brain, click the link above. Repetition.

Here’s a quick neuroscience lesson 101 that I have dumbed right down because I don’t really get it. Our brain is made up of brain cells, called neurons. There’s over 100 Billion to be exact, which all have about 1000 connections each to other brain cells. This means there are about 100 Trillion connections in our brain. It is a bit hard to comprehend I know but trust me because it’s science. Every new skill is about creating and strengthening the connection between these neurons. You see each new skill we acquire creates a new neural pathway for an electric pulse to fly down and the more we repeat this, the stronger the pathway will get. Repetition. 

I apply this theory to any new skill that comes into my life. When I relearned how to play golf with one hand, I used this knowledge to my advantage. Before my accident, I was ok at golf but not quite on the pro tour. I enjoyed having a slog with my mates every two or three weeks but I never saw myself getting any better. Repetition. 

This was because of the amount of repetition I did was not enough to build a strong connection. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t bad and I was getting better, but not at a rapid rate and this was to do with my repetition rate. It’s not only movements that I use repetition for. It applies to basically anything new that comes into my life. Repetition.

We can use repetition to learn names, words to songs, directions to our new job, directions at our new job, directions from our boss at our new job, and just about anything else we want to learn. It all comes down to how badly you want to learn this new information? Repetition.

So, next time you’re in the process of learning a new talent, name, or whatever you want, use repetition because you know what they say, repetition is the mother of all skill. I bet you can’t get that bloody word out of your head now. Repetition.

You’ll thank me later!