SUMMARY HERE

It’s Hard

It’s really hard to just get started doing whatever you want to be doing. Whether it’s learning a new language, a new skill, starting a work-out routine, or building a new project. That first step to get started is probably the hardest step you can take. The momentum from starting can easily carry you through on the worst of days to continue the journey.

I’ve always been a huge language nerd since high school. I took French, learned to count in Japanese and Finnish, eventually took a semester of Italian, Russian, a degree in French and self-studied Polish. The common thread of my studies is not really wanting to start because “what if I sucked”? Guess what, of course I sucked! There’s no way to avoid the suck. Learning new things makes you feel like the stupidest person on the planet, especially when you start comparing yourself to people you see online. You have to embrace the suck, though.

However, here’s the problem, we don’t LIKE to embrace the suck. The suck is what makes us quit because it’s not fun. It goes back to our desire to optimize our lives as much as possible. If I can learn these new skills fast, then my life will be so much better. That’s the mentality at least. Here’s the kicker, though, that period of suck isn’t optimal, so it breaks our spirits and we eventually give up because the climb’s too high.

Fun fact though, it’s not as high as you think it is in the grand scheme of your life. That hill you think is too high and made you quit was actually just clouded by what you were looking at directly in front of you. If you had decided to just look up for a moment and turn around to see where you had just been and compare it to where you’re going, you’d probably realize just how close to that milestone you actually were.

It’s the journey

I’m not a fan of the “it’s just a journey” mantra that’s always rehashed, but that doesn’t make it not true. That hill you were climbing is a challenge you were facing and overcoming with your constant pushing forward to get to the top. But, you weren’t smelling the roses, petting the cats, of listening to the birds in the trees. You were so focused on one foor in front of the other and not trusting the process to enjoy exactly what was happening around you along the way.

The moment you start learning a new skill, the level of confidence you gain in yourself in other areas of life outside that one skill is phenomenal. You’re learning to program, for example, and have been learning about if-statements in order to create conditional logic – “if x happens, then do y thing” – and you just got a huge win when your mini-program worked after learning that. Then, the rest of the day, you feel so on top of the world that you conquer some task at work that’s been bothering you and the momentum just keeps going. You may not have solved world hunger, but you had a win that paid out in other areas of life. And that wouldn’t have happened if you had just given up.

It’s Consistency

Ugh, that word: consistency. It sounds like such a bad word because we’re also so tired of hearing it and every time we hear it, we have such a viseral reaction and repulsion to the idea behind it. Unfortunately though, there’s no avoiding the truth behind it. Without consistency you will never acquire the skill you’re working on. I never would’ve been able to get my buddy and myself student-priced tickets for entry into a small Polish garden in Wroclaw if I hadn’t spent the 3 months prior consistently learning Polish every morning. I wouldn’t have been able to play with the university trombone choir for the majority of my time in university if I hadn’t been consistent with my practice routine.

Now, this isn’t to say that it was easy to implement that consistency. Additionally, it sure wasn’t easy to continue it once put in place. But, I had ways of creating catalyste-habits that would ignite my desire to start studying or practicing. For my language studies, I would always do it first thing in the morning. The moment I made my coffee, I would go sit at my computer and open up Babbel and get to work on my three lessons for the day. And, once I finished those lessons, I could be done. Sometimes, though, I’d keep going because I already had the momentum going. Or, I’d call it good with my Babbel lessons for the morning, but later I might pull out the graded reader and it’s corresponding audio to get some reading and listening practice thanks to the encouragement from earlier in the day.

For my music, I didn’t create a catalyste habit. Instead, I made the friction so small that starting took nearly zero will-power. I had a trombone stand that I always kept my trombone set-up on. Additionally, I’d have either one of my method books open or whatever piece I was practicing ready to go on my music stand. That way, if I passed by my trombone at home during the day, I could get right to practicing for a little bit, then set my horn back down and come back to it again later. This way, I got my hour plus of practice, but split-up throughout the day. It made the act of practicing effortless and more enticing. And of course, sometimes it would only be 5-10 minutes of practice and that would be it for the day. So what, though? That 5-10 minutes every day adds up to more practice throughout the year on the whole than a singular hour per week.

It’s the little wins

Here’s the thing, even with these little systems or hacks, doing the task still wasn’t that engaging. Often times I’d still rather scroll through my phone, YouTube, or just lay on the floor staring at the ceiling. The systems make getting started easier, sure. But, what they can never do is actually make the act of learning any easier. Learning in and of itself is HARD. Here’s the thing though, there are always little wins throughout the process that can and should be celebrated. By celebrating those small wins, you build even more momentum to keep going.

• So what if all you did was build a simple program that out puts someone’s age based on user input? That’s a win!
  
• You finally nailed that tricky lick that you’ve been struggling with for a couple days? That’s a win!
  
• You only ordered a coffee by saying “café, s’il vous plaît ?” instead of “je prends un café, s’il vous plaît”? That’s major! You were understood and got what you wanted from the server. That’s a win!
  

It’s all about the little victories. You can’t be perfect. Perfection doesn’t exist. The little wins are part of consistency because the little wins are the proof to you (and others) that you did in fact put in the work to get to where you are. Just because they’re small steps doesn’t make them any less significant.

The obvious caveat to these celebrations, though, is that you still have to continue being consistent. If you let one win derail you from the final goal, then you’ve completely missed the point. Not to mention the fact you’ll be infinitely more disappointed in yourself than if you hadn’t started in the first place because now you’re a failure/quitter.

Keep your consistency. Celebrate the little wins. And recognize that it’s still going to be hard, but that it’ll be worth it in the end.

Good luck on your goal, whatever it may be!