Why you feel tempted to give up before you reach your goal

Don’t give up before you reach the top. The view’s fantastic.

Why do you feel tempted to give up before you reach a goal?

The NUMBER ONE reason we want to quit before we make it to the top is a lack of results.

Whatever our goal is, we consciously or unconsciously set expectations for our path to reaching it before we start. Then, as we proceed forward, if we find ourselves where we expected to be at any given point in time, we think, great. I'm right on track and I'm going to accomplish my goal.

When we don't see the results we believe we should see at any given point in time, our next thought becomes: I'm never going to make it.

Now, forgive me, I'm about to show a little math minor here.

The mistake we make when we set our goal is not that we have expectations. We should have a roadmap and a way of measuring progress. 

The mistake we make is a common one:

We start wherever we're at.

We look at where we want to go.

And what's the shortest distance between two points? >> A straight line.

We draw a straight line between those two points. This kind of linear progress leads us to believe that each minute, day, week, month forward in time (along the x-axis, if you will) should show us at a higher point on the y-axis, or closer to our goals.

This kind of linear progress is a simple function for robots, machines, computers - and most math students (that's cool if it's not you. I am a self-confessed nerd). 

IT 👏 IS 👏 NOT 👏 HOW 👏 HUMANS 👏 FUNCTION

(pun 100% intended)

We are humans, not robots. We do not make linear progress. We make messy, cyclical, circular, sometimes spiral, roller-coaster, ondulating, scatter chart progress, because a whole variety of factors go into our results more than just simply time spent working toward a goal.

Time spent ≠ proximity to your goal.

Tune in to the latest episode of #SpanishSaturday (and make some non-linear progress toward your bilingual language goals) to find out why understanding this linear expectation causes you to give up before you ever reach your goal.

As your language coach, I not only help you acquire your second language naturally, but I also help you shift your understanding of progress to ensure ultimate success in reaching your goals.

We'll work together inside the Language Semester program to help you get the most out of every minute you spend in your second language, because this journey is truly about allowing you to live your best life twice - your best bilingual life / life in two languages.

The Fall Language Semester starts August 17. Applications to save your spot are opening soon.

I'd encourage you to stay tuned - you don't want to miss this.