You have permission to lower the bar

The sun is shining on a new year. How will you show up for it?

Have you heard the saying, "if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right"?

This time of year, many of us are abounding with new goals, dreams, and projects for the new year. We look forward to all the changes this year might bring (no more pandemic! re-opening of the economy!), all that we might accomplish (lose the weight! learn the language! get the certification!), and the growth that will occur (new relationships! bettering of old relationships! more love, joy, knowledge, etc.).

And the overwhelm can almost be immediate.

Because the truth is, we aren't great multi-taskers. We - and I mean you, I mean me, I mean ALL of us humans - are much better at being single-taskers. It's just how our brains work!

So what do we do?

We often start trying to do it ALL, at the beginning. Then, we get frustrated as we realize we're not making the kind of progress we'd like to. We're pulled in too many directions, stretched too thin.

We start to drop things. We put them off. We decide we'll get to it later, when we have the time we want to truly dedicate to it.

This sounds pretty good. Pretty reasonable. After all, if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right, isn't it?

Maybe.

There's a pernicious limiting belief hiding in this mindset: the idea that it's all-or-nothing.

When we feel like there's a standard we have to meet in order to go after what we want, we keep ourselves from making ANY progress on the things that matter most to us.

Listen, mis amigos: THERE IS NO STANDARD YOU HAVE TO MEET - perfection or otherwise - in order to make progress on your goals, your dreams, your growth.

It is not all-or-nothing.

You have permission to lower the bar on how you show up in order to allow yourself to keep showing up.

I'll say it again.

You have permission to lower the bar on how you show up in order to allow yourself to keep showing up.

Mi amigo, mi amiga, please, don't choose to make ZERO progress because you couldn't meet some arbitrary, purely created mental standard that you felt was necessary or acceptable.

The truth is that now is all the time that we are guaranteed, and you may NEVER feel able to meet that standard you have set. Don't put off the things that are truly most important to you.

It's not ALL or NOTHING. It can simply be SOMETHING. All those little somethings add up, until one day you realize that they are everything.

Your life & language coach,

P.S. - If you’d like coaching support in being able to find celebration and enjoy the journey, reach out to me for a free discovery call. Let’s chat about how coaching can help you fulfill your potential from a place of health and peace, as you build your best life in any language.

Are you ready to lower the bar together and make progress on your bilingual goals? Join me for a freeing, permission-giving conversation in my latest episode of #SpanishSaturday.