Episode 46
Use the Power of Routines To Break Your Language Learning Plateau and Get Unstuck with Your English
Show Notes
If you're feeling stuck with your English, you'll want to listen to this week's episode. Here's what we'll cover to give you practical ideas you can try today to get your English moving again:
In this episode, I'm going to discusses language learning plateaus and how routines and habits play a crucial role in language learning.
I'll share insights from James Clear's book 'Atomic Habits' and we'll talk about the importance of changing habits and systems to achieve desired results.
We'll talk about the importance of analyzing your English learning system and making necessary changes, such as engaging more with native English speakers, changing English inputs, and joining clubs or interest groups. By changing routines and incorporating English into daily life, you'll be able to break free from learning plateaus and see progress in your language skills.
Takeaways
- Language learning plateaus are a normal part of the learning process and can be overcome.
- Routines and habits are powerful tools for achieving language learning goals.
- Changing habits and systems is key to breaking free from learning plateaus.
- Engaging with native English speakers, changing English inputs, and joining clubs or interest groups can enhance language learning.
Chapters
Introduction
Language Learning Plateau
The Power of Routines
Changing Habits and Systems
Breaking Free from a Learning Plateau
Analyzing Your English Learning System
Changing Your System
Changing English Inputs
Joining Clubs or Interest Groups
Changing Routines for New Results
Conclusion and Invitation
Key message: Embrace the small adjustments in routines to achieve big results, and use the power of habits to break through language learning barriers.
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Quote Mentioned:
Achieving a goal only changes your life for the moment. That’s the counterintuitive thing about improvement. We think we need to change our results, but the results are not the problem. What we really need to change are the systems that cause those results. When you solve problems at the results level, you only solve them temporarily. In order to improve for good, you need to solve problems at the systems level. Fix the inputs and the outputs will fix themselves. - James Clear.
Links Mentioned In Today's Episode
Forget About Setting Goals. Focus On This Instead. The article I mention by James Clear.
Subscribe to my newsletter and get your free language snapshot tool.
Transcript
So as you begin changing what you do in English each
Speaker:day, you will begin to produce new results
Speaker:with what you learn in English. Over
Speaker:time, those system changes will cause your learning
Speaker:curve to start moving up again. It might not
Speaker:happen immediately, but change
Speaker:will happen if you are consistent. That's
Speaker:the power of routines. That's the power of habits.
Speaker:They create results.
Speaker:Well, hello there and welcome to the speak English
Speaker:fearlessly podcast. This is the podcast
Speaker:for motivated english learners who want to speak English
Speaker:fearlessly and learn practical tips and
Speaker:strategies to conquer the CELPIP exam. I also
Speaker:love to feature encouraging interviews with regular people,
Speaker:people just like you who are working towards
Speaker:becoming fluent in English so we can learn from their
Speaker:experiences together. Who am I?
Speaker:My name is Aaron Nelson and I've been an english
Speaker:teacher for over 16 years, and I now
Speaker:help students prepare for the selfip exam through online
Speaker:classes. If you're just joining us, hey,
Speaker:welcome. It's great to have you here.
Speaker:Since the beginning of February or so, we've been taking
Speaker:a look at something that everyone deals with at
Speaker:some point in their life and in their learning
Speaker:journey, especially if you are working to learn
Speaker:a new language. In our case, learning
Speaker:English. And that thing that everyone
Speaker:will experience at some point in their learning journey
Speaker:is a language learning
Speaker:plateau. If you're not sure what that is,
Speaker:a language learning plateau is when all forward
Speaker:learning progress you are making suddenly,
Speaker:or maybe slowly, begins to
Speaker:fall flat, and you go from an
Speaker:upward learning curve to a flat line,
Speaker:and no amount of hard work or pushing seems to
Speaker:help you get started upward
Speaker:again. You are stuck.
Speaker:Like I said before, it happens to everyone at
Speaker:some point in their language learning journey, and maybe it's
Speaker:happening to you right now. So now that we've
Speaker:identified what a language learning plateau is, let's
Speaker:talk about how you can break out of one if
Speaker:you are stuck right now. So if you haven't
Speaker:yet, please subscribe to the show and come
Speaker:along with us as we figure out how to get unstuck
Speaker:with English together. My friend, we can do
Speaker:this. So today we're going to be
Speaker:talking all about routines. We
Speaker:all have them. And most important of all, we all
Speaker:follow them. In fact, routines
Speaker:and habits are what drives a great deal of
Speaker:our behaviors. From the moment we wake up to the moment
Speaker:we go to sleep, routines are
Speaker:everywhere. And let's get crystal clear about
Speaker:what a routine is. So, according to the
Speaker:Oxford Dictionary, a routine is a sequence
Speaker:of actions that are regularly following,
Speaker:a fixed program. I'm going to say that again. A
Speaker:routine is a sequence of actions
Speaker:that are regularly following. It's a
Speaker:fixed program. Interestingly
Speaker:enough. Again, according to the Oxford Dictionary,
Speaker:the word routine comes from both the french
Speaker:language and the english language. From the english
Speaker:side, it comes from the word route
Speaker:or a regular course or procedure. And
Speaker:from the french side, it comes from a word which means
Speaker:road. That should give us something
Speaker:to think about. A routine is like a road we
Speaker:follow on a regular basis. A
Speaker:routine is like a road we follow on a
Speaker:regular basis. Okay, so
Speaker:what does this have to do with learning English
Speaker:and dealing with a stubborn learning plateau that we're stuck
Speaker:on? Well, if you're wondering that, then I'm glad you're
Speaker:here, because our routines play a huge
Speaker:role in how we are making progress
Speaker:or not making progress with our English.
Speaker:A few months ago, I had the privilege of
Speaker:attending a leadership development conference through my
Speaker:workplace. One of my favorite presentations
Speaker:that I got to enjoy and listen to was by a
Speaker:writer and speaker named James Clear.
Speaker:He wrote a New York Times bestselling book
Speaker:called Atomic Habits. Maybe you've heard of him?
Speaker:Or the book Atomic Habits. Ever hear of it?
Speaker:It was and is a
Speaker:you probably. If you like going to the bookstore, you've probably
Speaker:seen it around. I have. It's all over the
Speaker:place. So it's called atomic habits.
Speaker:And James's presentation was by
Speaker:far my favorite. It was a two day event. We sat
Speaker:through a lot of really great presentations. But I
Speaker:really enjoyed James's presentation because it was
Speaker:so practical and downright challenging.
Speaker:His big idea is this. The best way
Speaker:to make changes in your life is to change your habits
Speaker:or routines. Change your routines and
Speaker:your life will also begin to change. Now, I'm
Speaker:really simplifying his message there, but that's the gist of
Speaker:it. If you just had like 10 seconds to hear what James
Speaker:clear talks about in his book Atomic Habits, it
Speaker:all comes down to the habits that we follow
Speaker:produce our life. If you want to
Speaker:change what's going on in your life, start by changing the habits
Speaker:that you are following day in and day out.
Speaker:I'd like to share with you a great quote from an article
Speaker:on his website which I will be linking to in my show
Speaker:notes today. And before I read it to you, you're going to
Speaker:hear me reading the word systems.
Speaker:And just quickly, a system is, again, according to the
Speaker:Oxford dictionary, it's a set of things working
Speaker:together as parts of a mechanism
Speaker:or an interconnecting network.
Speaker:It's a set of things working together
Speaker:as parts of a mechanism or an
Speaker:interconnecting network. In other words, we're also
Speaker:talking about routines here. They kind of mean the
Speaker:same thing. Okay, so when you hear me say the word systems,
Speaker:you can think of the word routine or
Speaker:you can think of the word habit. All right, they kind of
Speaker:mean the same. So here's the great quote
Speaker:from James Clear. He says, achieving a
Speaker:goal only changes your life for the
Speaker:moment. That's the counterintuitive
Speaker:thing about improvement. We think we
Speaker:need to change our results, but the results
Speaker:are not the problem. What we really need
Speaker:to change are the systems that cause those
Speaker:results. When you solve problems at the
Speaker:results level, you only solve them
Speaker:temporarily. In order to improve for good,
Speaker:you need to solve problems at the systems
Speaker:level. Fix the inputs and the
Speaker:outputs will fix themselves.
Speaker:Wow. What a quote. And
Speaker:that quote really made me remember
Speaker:how I was feeling when I was watching his
Speaker:presentation that day. It just felt like
Speaker:one light bulb moment after another for me,
Speaker:as I was just thinking about what he was sharing about how
Speaker:powerful our habits are.
Speaker:And he was sharing about how
Speaker:he tells one story. And I wasn't even thinking about sharing this with you, but
Speaker:it's quite interesting. He was sharing one story, and this is a true
Speaker:story of a guy that he interviewed who was way
Speaker:overweight, like, unhealthily
Speaker:overweight. And for him, what
Speaker:he needed to start doing in order to change his life
Speaker:wasn't to set healthy eating goals. It
Speaker:wasn't to set going to the gym and working out for hours
Speaker:and hours. No. The thing that he
Speaker:did to begin making a change in his life
Speaker:was to change his routine.
Speaker:So every day, his new routine
Speaker:was to go to the gym, get
Speaker:changed into his exercise outfit,
Speaker:get out onto the exercise floor, and start working
Speaker:out for just five minutes. When those
Speaker:five minutes were done, he'd go back, get changed
Speaker:into his regular clothes, and go home and do the
Speaker:rest of his day as per normal.
Speaker:Now, when I heard him sharing this, I sat back in my seat and I
Speaker:thought to myself, what good would that do? Going to the gym for
Speaker:five minutes is not going to change anything in your
Speaker:life. But then James said something
Speaker:that blew my mind. He said that the thing
Speaker:that this guy was working to do
Speaker:was change his systems. Before
Speaker:that, he wasn't the kind of guy who would go
Speaker:to the gym ever like, his day to day
Speaker:activities had nothing to do with the gym. His day to
Speaker:day activities had a lot to do with his sofa. It had a lot
Speaker:to do with driving in his car. It had a lot to do
Speaker:with inactivity. So he wasn't
Speaker:the kind of person who would go to the gym.
Speaker:His system was broken. And that's
Speaker:why he wasn't achieving the weight loss
Speaker:goals or the weight loss results. That's the better word. He wasn't achieving the
Speaker:weight loss loss results that he wanted in his life because he
Speaker:was following the wrong system. So in order
Speaker:for him to change the results that he was getting, he needed
Speaker:to change the inputs or the things that
Speaker:he was doing day in and day out that were
Speaker:producing this overweight result.
Speaker:And one of those things he determined
Speaker:was not being the kind of person who
Speaker:goes to the gym. So he decided to go to the
Speaker:gym every single day for five minutes
Speaker:at the beginning in order for him to
Speaker:become the person who goes to the gym every
Speaker:day. And you know what happened?
Speaker:You can guess it. You can guess it little by little,
Speaker:he did become that person who went to the
Speaker:gym every single day. And once he became
Speaker:that person that went to the gym every single day, which
Speaker:was a drastic difference from the guy who didn't get off his
Speaker:sofa or didn't walk to work, or he
Speaker:only drove to work and all the other things
Speaker:that he did on his sofa, day in and day out. Going to
Speaker:the gym every day was a huge difference. And
Speaker:once that routine became a regular part of
Speaker:his life, the length of time that he stayed in the
Speaker:gym started to grow. And sure enough,
Speaker:it started to produce those weight loss results that he
Speaker:wanted. Isn't that fascinating? When
Speaker:I heard that story, my mind was blown.
Speaker:I was thinking to myself, that is such a great idea
Speaker:and such a simple thing that we can
Speaker:do in order to create results in our life.
Speaker:Change the habits that we follow each day,
Speaker:change the routines we follow each day,
Speaker:and you will change the results you get. So to quickly
Speaker:summarize that quote for you, and don't worry, that quote will
Speaker:be included in my show notes if you want to read it, as well as
Speaker:a link to the article on his website. So you can
Speaker:follow or read the whole thing that James shared
Speaker:in that quote and you can find out more about him if you are
Speaker:curious. But just to summarize, this
Speaker:is what you can learn from that quote. Don't focus on
Speaker:changing your results. Instead,
Speaker:focus on changing the system or routine or
Speaker:habits you are following that are
Speaker:producing those results. Change the system
Speaker:means you'll change the results. I'm going to read that
Speaker:again. Don't focus on changing your results.
Speaker:Instead, focus on changing the system or routine
Speaker:or habits you are following that are producing those
Speaker:results. When you change the system, you
Speaker:change the results. Does that make sense?
Speaker:Now, let's connect this with breaking free from your
Speaker:language learning flatline. If you are feeling stuck with
Speaker:your English today. And again, please let me remind you that
Speaker:being stuck or feeling like you're not making progress no matter
Speaker:how hard you work on it, it's terribly frustrating,
Speaker:but it's very normal. Everyone
Speaker:experiences it, experienced it, or will experience
Speaker:it. It's just part of the learning process. It
Speaker:does not mean that you are a bad english student or a
Speaker:poor english learner. It just means you're
Speaker:normal. You're normal. And one of
Speaker:the potential causes of your stuckness.
Speaker:I know that's not a word, but I'm going to use it anyway.
Speaker:One of the potential causes of you being stuck might be
Speaker:because of the language learning practice
Speaker:system or routine you've been following.
Speaker:Have you ever thought about that? What is
Speaker:the english learning system you are following to develop your
Speaker:fluency with the language? Can you map it out on a
Speaker:piece of paper? You should be able to if you take a
Speaker:moment and think about it. When I was an english teacher in
Speaker:Mexico, here's the typical english learning system
Speaker:I saw students following. Number
Speaker:one, they would have a big need
Speaker:for English in their workplace. That was like the
Speaker:cause or the thing that started off, their
Speaker:need to start using an english learning system. They needed
Speaker:English in order to keep their job or to do their
Speaker:job well. So number two, they'd sign up for
Speaker:an english class. And number three, their company
Speaker:would pay for those classes because it was part of their professional
Speaker:development and they needed their employees to be able to use
Speaker:English effectively during their work hours.
Speaker:Those classes that the company would pay for were
Speaker:typically two times a week for one and a half
Speaker:hours each class. So about 3 hours of class time
Speaker:every week. So because my company is paying
Speaker:for it, I'm going to go to each of my classes.
Speaker:And number four, my english practice mostly comes
Speaker:through my classes and the times I need to use it
Speaker:for work. So the only time I'm practicing
Speaker:my English is when I'm going to my english class. That's my
Speaker:system. I need to learn English. So I go to my english
Speaker:class. I need to use English because I use it for
Speaker:my work. The only times really that I'm coming into
Speaker:contact with English is when I'm in my class
Speaker:and the times that I need to use it for work when I'm not
Speaker:at work. This is the fifth part. When I'm outside of work, I just
Speaker:live my life. I don't have to think about English.
Speaker:I try not to think about English. I'm just enjoying
Speaker:my free time away from work. I've
Speaker:talked about this system before, many
Speaker:times in previous episodes, but this
Speaker:system is broken. It's not working.
Speaker:It doesn't produce the results that students
Speaker:need. And here's another system that I've spoken about that
Speaker:happens to people living here in Canada, where
Speaker:it's an english speaking country where English is
Speaker:all around them. So here's how their system
Speaker:looks. I'm surrounded by English all the time.
Speaker:Number two, I don't know English very well and I miss
Speaker:home. So I focus more on finding and
Speaker:keeping friends from my home country.
Speaker:I do this, number three, because I can speak
Speaker:my first language with these friends, and when I'm speaking my
Speaker:first language with my friends, I feel happy and like I'm not
Speaker:so disconnected from home.
Speaker:What do you think the outcome is going to be
Speaker:of this system? What do you
Speaker:think? I hope you're thinking
Speaker:if all you are doing is connecting with
Speaker:people from your home country who speak your first
Speaker:language, where when you do get together with them,
Speaker:you're probably only speaking that first language,
Speaker:what do you think is going to be the outcome of
Speaker:those habits or that system or that
Speaker:routine? I'll tell you right now,
Speaker:nothing good for your English, my friend. I've
Speaker:told this story before so many times, but it's worth
Speaker:repeating. We have very good friends who
Speaker:have lived here in Canada for
Speaker:decades, more than ten years,
Speaker:and their circle of friends are only
Speaker:people from their home country or only people
Speaker:who speak their first language and
Speaker:not English. So the thing is, they don't have
Speaker:to use English. Somehow they've built a life
Speaker:for themselves in an english speaking country where
Speaker:they don't have to use English at all, or at
Speaker:least very rarely. Guess what
Speaker:has happened to their english level. It stayed the same. It
Speaker:hasn't grown. It hasn't developed. And they wonder
Speaker:why this is happening. Why
Speaker:is it that I'm living in an english speaking country, but I'm still not
Speaker:fluent in English? The problem
Speaker:is what you're doing in English each day, or more importantly, it's
Speaker:what you're not doing with English each day. You are connecting
Speaker:with people who only speak your first
Speaker:language. The system, that
Speaker:system is broken. So
Speaker:let's take a look at your english learning system for a
Speaker:minute. What is the route or routine
Speaker:that you follow each day from the moment you wake up
Speaker:to the moment you go to sleep? I challenge
Speaker:you. Take some time today and just think through
Speaker:all the different things that you do from the moment you
Speaker:wake up to the moment you go to sleep. Just jot them down. You don't
Speaker:have to write a book about it or anything. Just take a piece of paper
Speaker:or in your journal or in your agenda and
Speaker:just start writing in point form. You don't have to write in
Speaker:complete sentences if you don't want to, but write down
Speaker:what you do after waking
Speaker:up all the way through the day until you go to sleep
Speaker:again. Think about the things you do first, and then as
Speaker:soon as you do that, what's the next thing you do? And then after that,
Speaker:what do you do? Write it out. And be honest
Speaker:with yourself. Once you're finished, take
Speaker:a look at what you see. This, what you're
Speaker:looking at is your system. It's your
Speaker:routine. Now, as you look at
Speaker:your routine, where and how
Speaker:often are you seeing English practice happening
Speaker:in it again, be honest with yourself. The only
Speaker:person who's going to see this is you.
Speaker:Perhaps you'll notice that English is not really
Speaker:an active or regular part of your system. And if
Speaker:that's the case, congratulations. You now
Speaker:know why you're in a flatline situation where you're not
Speaker:learning as much as you wish you could be.
Speaker:And that learning curve is flat. It's not pointing up
Speaker:anymore. If that's the case for
Speaker:you, ask yourself, how can I begin bringing
Speaker:English into my system more,
Speaker:making it a part of what I do each day, not
Speaker:an extra thing that you try to add on
Speaker:that's really important when you're looking at your system. I don't
Speaker:want you to try to find ways to add
Speaker:English on to what you're already doing.
Speaker:Instead, I want you to look at ways you can
Speaker:include English in the things that you do each day.
Speaker:Make English bleed into the things
Speaker:that run your life. Let me give you a
Speaker:quick example, as if you've been listening to my
Speaker:podcast for any length of time. You've probably heard
Speaker:me talk about my back and
Speaker:the injury that I had about three years ago.
Speaker:And I don't even know if you can call it an injury, but my back
Speaker:just stopped working. It hurt. It hurt
Speaker:so much that I couldn't get up out of bed
Speaker:for weeks. In fact, I missed work
Speaker:for two months because I just couldn't do my day
Speaker:to day activities. And the only way that I was able to
Speaker:solve my back problem was going to
Speaker:physiotherapy. Now,
Speaker:what you might not know is that I've been doing
Speaker:physiotherapy for over, I would say, almost
Speaker:a year. I think it would be almost a year that I've been doing
Speaker:physio. But all of a sudden, about
Speaker:maybe a month and a half ago now, I went to go for
Speaker:my regular physio session. And
Speaker:as I walked into the reception area,
Speaker:the very nice receptionist stopped me and said,
Speaker:hey, guess what? Something has changed with
Speaker:your insurance plan. Your insurance company,
Speaker:after today, is no longer going to be
Speaker:covering the kind of exercise and the kind of
Speaker:visit that it has been covering. So this
Speaker:benefit is no longer going to be for you.
Speaker:So if you want to continue taking physio and exercise
Speaker:with us, you're going to have to pay out of pocket.
Speaker:Ouch. That was a blow for me.
Speaker:I needed that exercise, and I needed that kind
Speaker:of activity in my life to help me work on the
Speaker:pain in my back. But now
Speaker:that my insurance company is no longer
Speaker:covering that kind of exercise or
Speaker:that kind of a benefit, I lost
Speaker:that part of my routine. And that part of my
Speaker:routine was producing some great results.
Speaker:The level of pain I was experiencing in my back every day
Speaker:was going down. I was feeling stronger and
Speaker:healthier because I was lifting weights. I was doing special
Speaker:exercises and stretches, and I had a
Speaker:teacher with me or a trainer who was helping
Speaker:me do the things that I needed to do to make my
Speaker:back stronger. But now that that
Speaker:input was being erased, guess what happened
Speaker:in my life? Nothing.
Speaker:I didn't continue with the exercises, even though in
Speaker:my head, I was thinking, after I got over the initial shock of
Speaker:not having access to that activity anymore, I was thinking, well,
Speaker:maybe I can start doing the same kinds of activities at.
Speaker:I can, you know, Netflix
Speaker:or Apple TV. I think they have exercise
Speaker:channels. Maybe I can follow along with a routine
Speaker:there. I hate to tell you
Speaker:this, but I didn't do. Couldn't.
Speaker:Not that I couldn't, because I could, but I didn't make it a part of
Speaker:my everyday life. I just stopped.
Speaker:I stopped. I don't have any other explanation for it.
Speaker:I just couldn't find a way to make time in my life
Speaker:for this activity anymore. And guess what
Speaker:happened as a result. Yes. My back.
Speaker:My back started to hurt more and more each day, and I
Speaker:was feeling stiff, and it was just feeling
Speaker:like I was losing all the progress that I had achieved over the
Speaker:last year or so that I was taking
Speaker:physio. And I was really frustrated
Speaker:about that. But the problem was that
Speaker:my system was broken. My system was. The system
Speaker:I was following was day to day activity that did not include
Speaker:any kind of exercise. I was driving to work.
Speaker:I had limited exercise in walking around the floors
Speaker:where I work. But that's not really great exercise.
Speaker:It's very small amounts of movement. In short, I wasn't
Speaker:getting near enough movement that I needed in order
Speaker:to have an impact on my back. So the system that I was
Speaker:following didn't have exercise as a part of it.
Speaker:And the result that was being produced by
Speaker:that was a painful back.
Speaker:I was spending more time lying in bed when I got back home with
Speaker:ice on my back, and I just wasn't liking
Speaker:that result. And I knew that something was
Speaker:missing. I knew that that activity, that exercise piece
Speaker:was missing. So I started to think about my
Speaker:system. I remembered that presentation that I sat through
Speaker:with James clear, and I remember my mind being blown by
Speaker:just how powerful our systems are. And I
Speaker:thought to myself, okay, I don't like the
Speaker:results that I'm getting. If I keep doing what I'm
Speaker:doing, those results are not going to change. I'm just going to
Speaker:keep getting the same results. That makes sense, doesn't it?
Speaker:So I decided that I was going to start
Speaker:changing the way I run my system.
Speaker:So instead of driving to work each day,
Speaker:I started to walk. I started to walk to work. I don't
Speaker:live very far away. It takes me about 25 minutes to
Speaker:go from my house to my workplace
Speaker:walking. So I started to do that.
Speaker:And last week was the first week that I
Speaker:implemented this change in my system. And guess what
Speaker:happened the first few days? Well, first
Speaker:of all, the first time I did it, I felt great. When I got to
Speaker:work, I was on a high. I felt excited. I felt like,
Speaker:yes, I'm back doing the
Speaker:things that I need to be doing to change the results
Speaker:that I've been getting. I felt really good during the
Speaker:day. But as the days went on with me
Speaker:walking, this was not an activity I was used to. So I started
Speaker:to feel sore. My ankles were sore, my legs were
Speaker:sore, because when I was walking, I was trying to walk
Speaker:quickly, and my walk has me going up and down
Speaker:hills. So I was
Speaker:exercising myself in ways that I hadn't exercised before. So
Speaker:my body was letting me know about it. And the
Speaker:temptation was, stop doing this. This
Speaker:hurts. Just like the pain that would happen
Speaker:after my physiotherapy visits, I would be in pain for the
Speaker:day after, or even sometimes two days after my
Speaker:physio exercises. But I knew that
Speaker:that pain was a good kind of pain because it was the kind of pain
Speaker:that you get after working out and exercising
Speaker:different parts of your body, and
Speaker:that that discomfort didn't last
Speaker:for long. But the
Speaker:results that I was getting less pain, less
Speaker:discomfort in my back, told me that I was doing the
Speaker:right thing. And I knew that the same thing was
Speaker:going to be true about my walking. That the more I
Speaker:walked, the more I practiced this new activity in
Speaker:my everyday system, the less it would be
Speaker:impacting me in a pain or discomfort
Speaker:level, and the more it would start producing the results
Speaker:that I was looking for for my back. So that's
Speaker:just like a short little example of how I needed to
Speaker:include a new activity into my
Speaker:life, not like, add an additional thing.
Speaker:I just changed the way I went to work each day. Instead of
Speaker:driving, I've decided to walk. So
Speaker:what if you look at your system and you
Speaker:notice that English is a regular part
Speaker:of your system? So that previous example was
Speaker:kind of speaking to that idea of what if you look at your
Speaker:system and you discover that English is not a
Speaker:regular enough part of your life, then you
Speaker:need to find a way to include it in something that you
Speaker:do on a regular basis as a part of your life.
Speaker:And that example that I gave, in case it wasn't clear, that
Speaker:example that I gave was an example of
Speaker:including something in my everyday routine.
Speaker:And I was focusing on my routine or the
Speaker:system that I use to get to work every day instead of using
Speaker:my car. I've decided to switch that out and
Speaker:change it to walking. So now I walk to work and I
Speaker:walk back home again. I've changed part of my system.
Speaker:So that's something that you can do, too.
Speaker:So the second question is, what if you look at your
Speaker:system, you've done that. Look at your
Speaker:life, and you've written down all the things that you do
Speaker:from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep
Speaker:and you realize, hey, you know what? I am
Speaker:including English and English practice as
Speaker:a regular part of what I do every day. It's a part of my
Speaker:system, but I'm still
Speaker:experiencing that learning plateau. What's going on?
Speaker:Well, that is totally possible. You are experiencing it,
Speaker:right? You can have lots of contact
Speaker:with and practice of English in your system,
Speaker:in your habits, in your routine, but you can still be
Speaker:facing a flatlined learning curve.
Speaker:Here's something that you can do. Here's
Speaker:something to think about. It's time to change the kinds of
Speaker:things you are doing in English inside of your
Speaker:routine. If what you are doing is not getting you the
Speaker:results you want to see, continuing to do the same things
Speaker:won't magically create results that you're
Speaker:looking for. Here are three simple ways
Speaker:that you could consider changing the way you use English each
Speaker:day. See if one of them or all of them could
Speaker:apply to you. Number one, engage
Speaker:more with native english speakers.
Speaker:Engage more with native english
Speaker:speakers. Now,
Speaker:I bet that this ingredient is
Speaker:lacking in your system. I bet it's not
Speaker:there enough. Maybe it is,
Speaker:but I'm betting that it's not. But I've got some great news
Speaker:for you. If it's not there, you, and only
Speaker:you can do something about it. You're the one who can
Speaker:add more encounters, more
Speaker:conversations, more visits, more coffee times,
Speaker:more going to the movies with more eating out
Speaker:with native english speakers. Only you can add
Speaker:that. Only you can bring that in. It's something
Speaker:that's in your control. So that's one suggestion
Speaker:I have for you. Create
Speaker:more spaces, more contact time with native
Speaker:english speakers. Number two,
Speaker:change your english inputs. What
Speaker:kinds, for example, of tv shows or movies
Speaker:do you like to watch in English? Try
Speaker:changing what you watch to a new genre,
Speaker:like if you're used to or you enjoy watching
Speaker:comedies. If that's your favorite thing to watch,
Speaker:try switching over to dramas. Or try switching over to
Speaker:thriller or action. You'll get immediate
Speaker:access to new words, to new phrases and
Speaker:new ideas in English, and you might just discover
Speaker:a new favorite tv show, too. And
Speaker:that's a good thing, right? A new way to
Speaker:enjoy your free time.
Speaker:And finally, number three, what if
Speaker:you joined a club or an interest group, or like
Speaker:a hobby group? I've shared about this before,
Speaker:but in the place where I work, I run a weekly
Speaker:writers group. And in that group, the people who come,
Speaker:their commitment or the thing that they do every
Speaker:week is that they commit to write something. And in
Speaker:the group, they share what they've written. And that
Speaker:group is all in English. I wonder if
Speaker:there are groups like that around you. Maybe there's a book
Speaker:club, maybe there's a chess club. Maybe
Speaker:there's, I don't know, a walking club or a
Speaker:cycling club or a hiking club. There's lots of
Speaker:different groups around that you could get involved in,
Speaker:and there's lots of different groups around that would be
Speaker:centered around an interest that is interesting to
Speaker:you. And if you get involved in a group like
Speaker:that, you're going to be able to fulfill that first
Speaker:suggestion I gave you. You'll be able to find other native english
Speaker:speakers that you can start connecting with.
Speaker:Or maybe you'll just find other people who are also
Speaker:learning English and who are wanting people to practice with.
Speaker:The thing is, find new groups of people to
Speaker:hang out with. Find a club or an interest group
Speaker:that is of interest to you and start
Speaker:connecting with it. You will have fun.
Speaker:You will probably learn new things. You'll meet new people. And
Speaker:best of all, you'll have the opportunity on a regular basis
Speaker:to begin practicing your English. So
Speaker:those three things again. Number one, engage
Speaker:more with native english speakers. Number two, change your
Speaker:english inputs. What things are you listening to or watching
Speaker:on a regular basis? Can you change the
Speaker:kinds of things? Can you change the kind of music that you listen to in
Speaker:English? Can you change the kind of tv show or movie that you enjoy
Speaker:watching? When you do those things, you will expose yourself
Speaker:to new kinds or new ways of using English,
Speaker:which will give you fresh inputs to work
Speaker:with. And finally, number three, look
Speaker:for groups or clubs that interest
Speaker:you and join them. You
Speaker:will meet new people, you'll have many new opportunities
Speaker:to practice your English, and you'll have
Speaker:fun. So as you begin changing what you
Speaker:do in English each day, you will begin to
Speaker:produce new results with what you learn in English.
Speaker:Over time, those system changes will cause your
Speaker:learning curve to start moving up again. It might
Speaker:not happen immediately, but
Speaker:change will happen if you are
Speaker:consistent. That's the power of routines. That's the power of
Speaker:habits. They create results.
Speaker:And if you want those results to change, you need to
Speaker:change your routines. So give this a try
Speaker:and see what happens. And I've got a
Speaker:special gift for you. If you've found today's episode
Speaker:to be helpful, and I sure hope you have, I want to
Speaker:invite you to subscribe to my weekly newsletter during the
Speaker:month of February. If you subscribe. If you are a listener
Speaker:and you haven't subscribed, what are you doing? You need
Speaker:to subscribe, my friend. And if you do, and by the way,
Speaker:it's totally free to do this. But if you do subscribe,
Speaker:I will send you my language snapshot
Speaker:tool that will give you a way to get a clear
Speaker:picture of how you are using English each
Speaker:day or not. To grab
Speaker:yours, just go to
Speaker:selpipsuccess.com
Speaker:subscribe. That's
Speaker:selpipsuccess.com
Speaker:subscribe and after you put in your information there, you
Speaker:will get an email automatically with
Speaker:this resource that I've been telling you about that will help you get a
Speaker:snapshot or a picture of how English is
Speaker:a part of your everyday life or not. And it
Speaker:will help you to determine or see different spaces
Speaker:in your life where you can begin, including English, where
Speaker:maybe you are not already. So that's it
Speaker:for this week's episode. Thank you so much for listening along with
Speaker:me. Please join me next week as we're going to be
Speaker:talking about the importance of the kinds of English that
Speaker:you are connecting with. Thank you for
Speaker:listening and have a wonderful week. See you next
Speaker:Tuesday. Bye.
