Trying to learn as a beginner

So I watched through and followed along with a course on YouTube and now I'm moving on to a course on portswigger and I don't understand what I'm reading at all, am I just not cut out for this or is this normal? I'm able to do the puzzles when I read the hints but I cannot for the life of me get it without them. Am I in over my head or do I just need to keep at it?