Overcoming Learning Disability

How I learned how to learn – Kaizen practice in overcoming learning disability.

The word “Kaizen” is Sino- Japanese word for “Change for Better”. I first learned about it when I was studying business history. The underlying philosophy is “the practice of continuous improvement“.

I was struggling as a child with learning disability. I actually quit school in grade 3, because I was bullied so bad. It was my grandmama who saved me. And she did it by telling me stories. Every night before I’d go to bed, she would be telling me stories about fairy, princesses and knights. But they’re not typical bedtime stories. I remember that the knight never “saved” the princess. But they save each other and work together. Many different stories, but always the same theme.

Then one night she told a story, a fable, about an ugly rough stone, a useless coal, who turned out to be a diamond.

The story went like this:

“The stone was sitting by the river, crying because she felt so ugly and worthless. Then came a wise Owl, who said to the stone that he could make her beautiful and worthy because of all the things she would be able to contribute to the world. But the stone must have faith, because it was going to be a long journey, the wise Owl said.

And the story goes on.. telling how the stone must go through many obstacles, pressures, and hurtful cutting processes and polishing periods, before it becomes the precious diamond.”

And I remember she said this to me, “You are like this stone. Your brain is. Right now your brain is a rough diamond. But a diamond is a diamond, no matter how dirty it looks now. A diamond can fall into a mud puddle or inside a dog’s mouth, but it will still be a diamond, that can have the potential to shine. But we need to work on it. We need to polish your diamond. We need to polish your brain.”

I agreed to go back to school the next week. But I asked my Mom to transfer me to a different school.

It took 7 months before I started to catch up with my other classmates, during that period, my grandmama worked with me, tutoring me every night. Not long after, I started showing great progress, and ended up graduating at the top my class (the big 5). Later in life, I constantly won awards and scholarships and it dramatically changed the course of my life.