S6E38: Hate what you’re doing, but can’t find a routine that works?
Full transcript:
Good morning, happy Wednesday 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 today, if you’re not enjoying your language learning at the moment, and you haven’t found a way to fix it by changing up your routine or changing up your tasks, I just wanted to check in and ask, do you hate what you’re doing, or do you hate what you think, or how you feel, when you’re doing it?
Because sometimes, the problem definitely is the specific tasks we’re doing. We are trying to contort ourselves to fit a routine or method that really doesn’t suit us, we are asking too much of our brains at a time when our mental or social battery is completely drained, or we’re attempting things that are too far above our current level and it leads to frustration.
But sometimes, the problem isn’t the task. It’s one step back from that.
It’s that as soon as we enter a certain domain, whether that’s language learning, a certain part of our entrepreneurial journey like the marketing or the making money, the pitching to publishers for authors, certain doubts or beliefs or fears just swirl around us like smog and whatever we do, we feel awful about it.
Thoughts like:
It’s not going to work
Nobody cares
You’re bad at this
You shouldn’t be making these mistakes
You’re not a language learner
We think we hate the tasks. But really, we just hate how we feel when we sit down to do the task.
And when that’s the case, we don’t need new tasks. We need to clear the air to be able to work without the constant chatter and the fears.
We can spend a lot of time looking for new and better routines, new and better methods. And people do, they jump from one thing to the next, waiting for something to feel right. But it never works, because what they didn’t consider each time they buy that new thing, or sign up to that new course or class, is that they’d be carrying around exactly the same background chatter that will make it just as unpleasant as the last thing.
If underlying it all, the inner critic is the problem, looking for new products, jumping between things, will never work. It is like spending tons of time and money on new boats, only to hammer a hole in the bottom of them as soon as you bring them home.
What your brain tells you when you work, it really matters. And sometimes, it matters more than what you’re doing. So if this is something that you’ve been struggling with, it might be something to reflect on today: is it something wrong with the things you need to do, or is the discomfort more rooted in the stories you’re telling yourself as soon as you step over the threshold? If you can identify them, and clear them, will you have more breathing room to actually enjoy what you’re already doing?
And if you’d like to support my work and meet some amazing people in the process, take a look at my Patreon Community of creative, multipassionate and mission driven language learners. We meet up online once a month to chat about all things language, productivity and the world, and depending on the tier you choose, I also offer weekly co-working in the Creative Space to get tons of motivation and accountability, and a personalised monthly Q&A session. There’s even the option to get a personalised coaching call and brain huddle from me. So, if you’re curious, and I would love if you could join us, the link is in the show notes.
Have a wonderful day, and I will see you tomorrow.