Whenever I start a new project, I like to completely clear off my desk, remove all the clutter, and start fresh with a clean slate. It’s nice to start off on the right foot.

For language learners, hitting the reboot button after months or even years of learning can require a little more than just hitting a single button.

This is because there are layers upon layers of information, recommendations, rules, experiences,  memories, and emotional connections that have been stored during the learning process. In the beginning stages, everything is so unfamiliar and disorienting that we quickly accumulate a wide array of resources and rules to the point that we get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information. However, since we’re not yet experienced enough to know what information to keep and what to discard, we stockpile everything in the event that we’ll perhaps need it further down the line.

That accumulation can slow things down and get in the way. There’s a reason why Olympic runners wear light shoes and a light set of clothes. They want to be able to move fast without being weighed down by anything unnecessary.

It’s time to do a little spring cleaning for your mind to get rid of what you’re not using, what you no longer need, and just keep the essentials that will actually help you make progress.

1. Let go of negative thoughts and beliefs

Do you ever catch yourself thinking, “This language is impossible!”, “I’m not smart enough”, “I can’t do this”, “I’ll never be able to learn this!”? If so, stop it now. Your thoughts are more powerful than you think and negative thoughts can be especially limiting and self-perpetuating. Without some conscious intervention, your brain can keep those negative thoughts on a loop track in the background until you finally decide that enough is enough.

2. Stop making excuses

If you allow yourself, you can easily find dozens if not hundreds of reasons why you’re not improving, why you don’t have time, why it’s too difficult, and why it’s too complicated, etc. Start looking for solutions instead. Turn setbacks into challenges. Turn, “I can’t” into “How could I…? or “What if I tried…instead?” It is within your abilities and skills to learn a language. You managed to learn your native one, so learning another one can be done. It’s important to set priorities and schedules to make minimal efforts each day.

3. Visualize yourself being successful

Your mind actually works best with visual images and surprisingly it doesn’t always know the difference between a real image or an imaginary image, so it’s entirely possible to feed your mind an image of yourself achieving your language goals and it will start to believe that it is true and make the necessary changes to make it a reality. If you firmly see yourself doing what you dream of, you can convince yourself to make it happen. This is another reason why negative thoughts can be so detrimental to your goals and why it is so important to reframe negative thoughts and give yourself affirmations that you are capable of achieving your goals and then see yourself achieving them to reinforce those positive images and thoughts. 

HOMEWORK:
1. Leave a comment below mentioning your main obstacles and setbacks that are currently getting in the way of your language learning.
2. What excuses do you often make regarding language learning?
3. What are your language goals? What will speaking another language allow you to do next?i