You’re Not Bad with Directions — You’re Different with Them

By Dr. Knowell Knough

Hello, Knough here.

Let me begin with something I wish more people understood this:

If you struggle with directions, you are not broken. You are not careless. And you are certainly not “hopeless.”

You are simply different in how your brain processes space.

For decades, society has quietly assumed that navigation is a basic skill everyone should possess equally — like tying shoelaces or reading a clock. But neuroscience tells us a much more nuanced story. Spatial orientation is not a single skill. It is a constellation of abilities involving memory, perception, attention, language, body awareness, and emotional regulation.

In other words, navigation is not a switch you either have or don’t have. It is a spectrum. And many of you live beautifully somewhere along it.

The Myth of “Good” and “Bad” Navigators

One of the most damaging labels I encounter in my work is the phrase “I’m just bad with directions.”

This statement sounds harmless, even humorous. Yet beneath it often lies years of embarrassment, self-doubt, and quiet avoidance — declining invitations, relying heavily on others, or feeling anxious when routes change unexpectedly.

But what if we replaced that label with something more accurate?

Instead of bad, consider different.

Different navigators may:

• Rely more on landmarks than maps

• Remember routes as stories rather than diagrams

• Need several repetitions before paths feel familiar

• Experience left-right confusion under pressure

• Feel overwhelmed by environments lacking distinctive features

None of these represent failure. They represent variation.

And variation is the essence of neurodiversity.

Neurodiversity and the Navigating Brain

The concept of neurodiversity reminds us that brains are not standardized instruments produced on an assembly line. They are ecosystems — each organized uniquely, each optimized for different strengths.

Some brains excel at spatial rotation and mental mapping. Others shine in verbal reasoning, emotional attunement, in pattern recognition, or creativity.

Research suggests that organs and systems involved in navigation — including the hippocampus and parietal regions — vary in activation patterns across individuals. Working memory capacity, visual imagery vividness, and attentional filtering also influence how comfortably a person navigates.

Importantly, none of these differences carry moral value.

They are descriptive, not evaluative.

A person who struggles to orient themselves in a shopping mall may simultaneously demonstrate extraordinary storytelling ability, musical sensitivity, interpersonal insight, or analytical depth.

Navigational challenges do not negate competence. They coexist with it.

Learning Styles in Motion

Another helpful lens is learning style.

Consider how people learn routes:

• Visual learners benefit from maps, diagrams, and aerial perspectives.

• Verbal learners remember directions as sequences of instructions.

• Kinesthetic learners rely on bodily movement and repetition.

• Landmark learners anchor memory to distinctive features in the environment.

Many directionally challenged individuals are not incapable of navigation; rather, they are navigating with a learning style mismatched to the method being offered.

Telling a landmark learner to “just follow the map” is akin to asking someone to understand music solely through sheet notation without hearing it.

When method aligns with learning style, confidence grows rapidly.

The Emotional Layer

We must also acknowledge emotion.

Navigational difficulty often carries a history of public mistakes — missed turns, delayed arrivals, or visible confusion. Over time, these experiences can cultivate anticipatory anxiety.

And anxiety, quite unfairly, interferes with spatial processing.

Under stress, working memory narrows. Attention fragments. The internal compass will grow quiet.

What appears to be poor navigation may partly be a nervous system attempting to protect itself.

Compassion — especially self-compassion — therefore becomes an evidence-based navigation strategy.

Reframing the Narrative

If you take only one message from today’s discussion, let it be this:

You are not deficient. You are distinctive.

Your brain may encode space differently, prioritize other information streams, or require alternative supports. But difference invites adaptation, creativity, and understanding — not judgment.

In my practice, I have watched individuals transform their relationship with navigation simply by replacing shame with curiosity.

They begin to ask:

• What cues work best for me?

• How does my memory prefer to organize routes?

• What environmental features help me feel oriented?

These questions shift the goal from imitation to personalization.

And personalization is where growth lives.

A Gentle Experiment

As you move through your day, try noticing one small moment of spatial awareness without evaluation.

Perhaps it is the color of a storefront you pass. The curve of a road near your home. The position of the sun when you step outside.

Simply notice.

No performance required.

Orientation begins not with mastery, but with attention.

Until next time, remember:

You are not behind. You are not failing. You are navigating with a brain that deserves understanding.

And understanding, once gained, is a remarkably reliable compass.

Warmly,

Dr. Knowell Knough

-          Dr Knowell Knough (clearly a pseudonym) is a psychologist who will

periodically give his perspective on directional challenge and related

topics.