It's not too often that I get a chance to be in a student role instead of an instructing role , and when I do it brings back so many memories of when I was first learning to fly.  Recently I began to work on my tailwheel endorsement, which after 14 years of flying, is like learning to land all over again.  The process has been exciting, challenging, and humbling all at the same time.  It reminds me that being a student trying to master a new skill can be very frustrating and sometimes make you question your decision to begin/complete training.  Here are some of my stick-with-it tips for any difficulty in flight training.

• Remember to stay positive.  During the training process it is very easy to get discouraged and 'down' on your performance during the lesson.  Try to remind yourself that learning to fly is a journey - not a single day.  Each of us will have difficulties (plateaus) while learning to fly and to base our opinion of progress on a singular task or day of performance is short sighted.  We didn't learn to ride a bike or drive a car in one day, so don't try to learn to fly in one either.  If you are really questioning your performance and doubt your ability to complete the training, talk to another experienced pilot or your instructor.  This mentor will be able to give you some perspective on your performance.

• Don't give up; change it up.  Most of us will experience some point of a learning plateau.  This means we will have lessons where things don't seem to get better (e.g. landings) and it begins to feel like training will never end.  Rather than practicing that task day after day after day, consider working on the item for a short bit in each lesson, while adding other new topics or reviewing other more accomplished procedures to break up the training.  When I am working on wheel landings and feel like I can't get anything right, I change over to full-stall landings to get things moving in the right direction, then I go back to wheel landings again.
• When in doubt, consult the experts.  In this case, when it seems like you have been working on the same task over and over again with little to no progress, talk to your instructor about taking a lesson with another colleague.  This short change up of instructors is often what some students need to help break through their current plateau of learning.  Most instructors will even suggest this if they feel that your progress has begun to slow down more than what is expected for your stage of training.  This new face will help explain things in a different way, which may be the piece you've been missing to get things back on track.  Don't feel that this reflects poorly on your satisfaction with your instructor, as this is a common practice and may help lead to your continued success in flight training.