Overcoming Your Mind

Илья: "Слушай, а ты бегаешь каждый день?"

Джен: "Нет... может быть 4 или 5 дне на неделе.  Почему?"

Илья: "Да вот думал спросить: как ты умудряешься делать это регулярно? Поделись методами борьбы с вездесущей ленью!"

And so started an interesting conversation about staying motivated.  We were speaking about running, but eventually turned to language, too.  

I know staying motivated is not just a problem for me and my Ilia.Our own minds seem to work against us sometimes, especially when we perceive something as too difficult.  Our minds are very good at finding excuses for not doing something.  Maybe we think we don't have have time, or there is another more pressing matter to attend to.  There will always be a ready excuse!

As I said last time, those excuses begin to pile up until you've done nothing; you've made no progress and now you're too frustrated to continue.  So, what to do?  You have to have discipline, but how do you build that discipline? It doesn't just happen, no one can hand it to you wrapped in a neat bow.

The first step I shared with my friend is this: make a list.  The list should have every single reason, no matter how small or silly it seems, why you want to learn a language (or whatever your goal is).  Start composing it in your head, it won't be too difficult, especially if you're really passionate about whatever it is you are trying to do.  Once you have some ideas, put them on paper.  Write down everything you can think of! Then stop, you're done for now.  Put the list somewhere where you won't forget about it.

Over the next week, or longer if you need, examine your list.  Take a couple minutes every day to read it and start thinking about your reasons.  Highlight the ones that are most important to you.  After you've selected a few, big goals for yourself, make a new list.  Put it by your bed, on your desk, tacked onto your fridge - anywhere you'll see it most often! It sounds simple, but I promise it will keep you motivated.

Of course, this list isn't magic. You won't suddenly have the urge to sit at your desk 4 hours a day, every day to study. Your brain will still work against you... But now you have ammunition against it! When you start feeling lazy, if you start thinking about something else you need to do, remember your list. Hold it, read it! This is what you're working for, and it's easily attainable - if you do the work!

I can't tell you how long it will take, but eventually you won't be so dependent on your list. Your reasons will stick with you and you'll have the discipline to stick with it.

In the beginning, I struggled with studying.  I had a vague idea of why I wanted to learn Russian, but it wasn't enough to keep me very interested. I'd sit down, open my book, read one or two paragraphs and get distracted.  I'd check Facebook, or my email.  Or just get up and walk away to do something else.  I wasn't making any progress, despite wanting to learn. So I made a list.

Jen's Reasons for Learning Russian
1. Travel (and live) in Russian speaking countries.
2. Communicate with my awesome friends in their native language.
3.  Experience the culture as authentically as I can.
4.  Watch movies, listen to music, and read in Russian with no problem.
5.  Have no fear when speaking with a native Russian speaker.

It was still a struggle in the beginning. I'd want to do other things.  But I would remind myself that if I didn't study, the goals on my list would slip further and further away.  It helped me.  Now I have few problems sitting down to study. And if I do start to struggle, I just remember my list.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!