Reframe the Discomfort of Learning Something Difficult

Learning discomfort comes in different types with different meanings. Cognitive overload means you have taken on too much at once. Productive confusion means the subject is genuinely complex and you are inside it. Exposure to real gaps is uncomfortable but accurate. Early competence illusion breaking feels like going backwards and is usually going forwards. Identifying which type you are experiencing changes what you should do about it.

I am trying to learn {DIFFICULT_SUBJECT} and finding it harder than expected. The discomfort I am experiencing: {DISCOMFORT_DESCRIPTION}. What I was expecting: {ORIGINAL_EXPECTATION}.

Help me reframe the difficulty:
1. What the discomfort is probably indicating: the most common types of learning discomfort and which of them my description most closely resembles (cognitive overload, exposure to genuine gaps, early competence illusion breaking, or productive confusion)
2. Why this type of difficulty is a good sign: what the specific discomfort I am describing suggests about the learning that is actually happening
3. What to do with it: the approach that works best for the type of difficulty I have, stated as a specific change to how I am studying or practising
4. The correct comparison: what I should be comparing my progress against that would make it feel more accurate than comparing against my initial expectation