S6E23: More is not always the solution
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’s episode is a reminder that more isn’t always better.
Because I know we hear it so much in what we see, what we listen to, it’s one of those messages that we kind of swim around in. So much of our society just idealises more: more money, more production, more followers, more friends… whatever it is, just double it. Just add one more. Work towards 10x it. A good day is one in which we got more done, and a bad day is one in which we did less.
But in language learning, or any other kind of self-development, I’m not sure that’s always true.
Because sometimes, sure, it’s great when we’ve
Covered more words
Studied more hours
Completed more exercises
Listened to more podcasts
Had more conversations or had conversations with more people
But looking at your goals
What do you actually want more of?
What really benefits from more?
And something might pop into your head: yes, I’ve been rushing that. Yes, I’ve been neglecting that. I’m feeling its absence in some way. And in that case, great.
But if you’re not sure, maybe more isn’t the answer. So for you, I have a different question.
Would more of anything be the solution to the problems you’re facing, or is the pressure to do more actually coming from something else? From societal messages that you need to be busy, you need to be hustling, that tired is a badge of honour, or that you need to be fluent by yesterday?
And if that’s the case, but you still feel like something does need to change:
What do you just want to be using better?
What could you do that takes the same amount of time as you’re spending now, the same amount of conversations exercises, whatever it is, that would extract more value from the same activity?
You don’t always need to be doing more, language learners, and your goal, whatever it is, should be asking you to work to burnout. You don’t want to arrive at your destination exhausted, or resentful, or jaded. So look after yourself along the way.
Have a wonderful day, don’t forget to check out my YouTube videos, new ones are posted every weekday at 2pm UK time, for another dose of language courage.