S6E30: These little steps really are paving the way
Full transcript:
Good morning, happy Friday and welcome to the Language Confidence Project, the daily dose of language courage for people who love languages and those who really don’t, but have to learn one anyway. And this week, we are celebrating the 300th episode of The Language Confidence Project. It’s been just a few days over two years since I started the Language Confidence Project, and I really struggled to figure out how to celebrate this anniversary, because what I can’t do is tell you how my life has dramatically changed since I started it. I know you all know this, but I started The Language Confidence Project following the loss of my job, my home, and two really important people, in full pandemic. I can’t tell you that starting this community, making 300 episodes of this podcast has rebuilt my life. I’m just not there yet. But what I can tell you is, day to day, so often, it feels like nothing has changed since then. Then I learned a trick. Ask yourself “would you go back in time and swap with yourself from two years, one year ago?” And if the answer is no… you’ve definitely made progress that you weren’t seeing the first time around.
We are used to hearing stories about how big changes lead to big results. And we’re quite used to hearing stories about how small changes lead to big results. So it’s really difficult when we’re on our own journey, showing up every day, to feel like these things that we are doing every day, showing up for, ticking off on our to-do lists, are actually the things that are going to get us there.
And when we hear those stories enough, of course we start questioning ourselves. Of course we start questioning the process. When we hear thpose stories enough, they feel l;ike the norm, and their rapid transformations feel like the natural consequence of their actions rather than like an outlier, or maybe even, a fabrication. And I absolutely know the feeling of simultaneously thinking “really? It happened, just like that? That fast?” and then fighting that nagging feeling that maybe somehow, we’re the ones that lagging behind. Secretly worrying “if this was working, really, wouldn’t I be there by now?” “Wouldn’t I be further along than this”?
And if you’re really concerned that you are getting no pay off from what you’re doing, or you’ve got a sneaking suspicion that you’re lingering too long over things that genuinely aren’t helpful, I’d love to encourage you to check out either my YouTube video on this, or the podcast episode it came from S2E2, called “How do I know when it’s taking too long?” where I look at where to draw the line between things taking time, being patient, and things just not working.
But most of the time, the answer is just, yes. 100% yes. These are the things, day by day, one little task by one little task, that are going to get us there. Every ten new words you learn. Every new grammar point you study and drill. Every topic you revise. They might not feel like much. Or they might feel like too much for results that you just feel aren’t coming fast enough. But yes. What you are doing is exactly what it takes to get to where you want to be.
It's just that languages are big. You have a lot of ground to cover, a lot of new concepts to get your head around, and a whole load of words and phrases to keep in your brain.
Building a business is big. Carving your own path, reinventing yourself and building a fun,. Creative life for yourself is big.
You’re going to get there, language learners. You really will. Keep documenting your progress, keep looking to your next milestone, and always be on the lookout for ways to being more joy into this process because that is exactly what keeps feeding that staying power. I promise you, it’s worth it, and Future You will be so glad for everything you’ve done this week.
Have a wonderful day, have a wonderful weekend, and I will see you back here on Monday.