S3E25: It’s not going to be difficult forever

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 today, if it all feels like it’s too hard and you’ll never get the hang of your language, this is the episode for you.

Whenever I’m struggling with something that’s new, either in terms of mental barriers, so things like procrastination, lack of motivation, dealing with uncertainty, or a certain skill, there’s just this thing that I can’t grasp, one thing that really compounds that struggle is the fear that it’s gojng to be like this forever. That I will never get this. I’ll never understand. I’ll never not feel overwhelmed again.

And today, if this is you too, I just want to come in and remind you that it is going to be okay. 

I know sometimes these obstacles, whatever they are, can make you feel like your language learning or your whole life is on hold until you’ve figured it out. 

I know how easy it can be to tell yourself that if you can’t grasp this thing, it’s a sign that you’ll be ill-equipped to deal with all the other things too.

But 

It’s not going to be like this forever. It really isn’t.

The things you’re struggling to understand now, you won’t struggle with them for the rest of your life. The things you keep making mistakes on now, you’ll do them automatically in the future and wonder why they ever caused you so much grief. And that lack of motivation that you’re beating yourself up about right now won’t hang around forever either.

And when you have these roadblocks that you think you’re never going to be able to get around, write them down somewhere. Because you know what else? It is amazing to have that realisation hit you that you’re feeling comfortable in a place you once felt uncomfortable, or that you’re doing something that you thought you’d never be able to do. And yet so many of us, we figure the thing out, and we forget. We forget that we thought we’d never make it. We play down how hard it was for us to get there. And then the next time something really hard comes up, it feels like the first time ever all over again. So maybe even keep a jar to store every one of these moments you overcome something that seemed really hard at the time, as evidence that you’ve done it before and you will do it again.

Things will get easier, language learners. Remember, every tiny thing you achieve today counts, and every word matters. Have a restful weekend, and I will see you back here at 7am UK time on Monday.