“Sooner
or later I’m going to have to learn English”… “I’ll do it next year,” “Sono una
capra,” “sono negata,” “I’ll never learn,”” what if i fail”? Why do we do some
things immediately and leave others on our to do list to wreak havoc with our
state of mind creating negative self and social esteem instead of just doing
them?
Procrastination
from the Latin procrastinatus,
literally means “forward tomorrow.”
The
purposive delay in starting or completing a task, often to the point of
creating an emotional unease that becomes part of ourselves. Procrastination,
the decision not to act on something we
need to do is a learned habit and has a number of causes and consequences that can luckily be broken says Professor of Psychology at DePaul University and author
of the book Still Procrastinating?
The No Regrets Guide to Getting it Done.
Chronic procrastination is NOT, as we like to tell
ourselves, a question of poor time management, “I don’t have time,” but about
self-sabotage that prevents us from reaching our full potential. “We avoid
things that people can verify and see and therefore evaluate us on” explains
Ferrari “if you never finish a task, you can never be judged or evaluated on
how well you did” We are overly concerned about being judged and like to avoid
even self-judgement. We don’t want to come across to others or ourselves as
incompetent or unskilled and so most of us feel that “projecting an image of
lack of effort is better than one of lack of ability” as lack of ability says
you tried and failed. Maybe you’re not getting down to learning English because
you think you’ll fail, maybe you’re linking your success in learning and
speaking English to a representation of your success in general, as a
representation of yourself.
So although you may enjoy washing the dishes and do it as
soon as you have to, or even redecorate the living room. Signing up for that
English course and actually learning English for personal success keep getting
put on the back burner- avoidance-for fear of being judged causing
self-sabotage.
But, think where you’d be if you would have started learning
English 2 years ago when you first thought about it instead of procrastinating.
“Stop waiting for that perfect opportunity or time to act (it doesn’t exist)” stop
standing still and make the positive changes that will help you meet your needs
and achieve your goals and leave self-sabotage to someone else.
You’re not alone, 20% of the population are avoidant
procrastinators but the good news is, you can change. Here are four strategies
to consider
Understand why
There is often a deep-seated reason for not acting, maybe
we think we don’t have time, maybe we
just don’t think we can ever learn English, that we are incapable, sometimes
we’re just afraid of the challenge and the results. Take a deep breath and
check with yourself the real reason you are procrastinating maybe the answer
will surprise you.
One step at a time
It’s true that learning a language is a long term process
and the idea can be quite intimidating, you don’t necessary see immediate
results. But you’re making it even more challenging than it really is. So
instead of looking at it as an endless torturous road set small steps and set
goals and a timeline. Step one: two hours of English course with a trainer a
week for 3 months. step two: reward yourself with a 4-day holiday to London.
Step 3: Pair an hour per week with a language coach with a free online course
15 minutes a day for a month…Half the battle is getting started.
Just do it
Close the gap between your intention and actually doing
it. Nike hit the nail on the head, “just do it” the more you think about them,
the more daunting things becomes. Even the small things start to weigh on you.
Just schedule a course and do it. Make the commitment, jump in! Who cares who
judges you, who cares if it’s not perfect, very few of us can do anything
perfectly anyway.
Mind the gap
(Not just on your reward trip to London.) Close the space
between wanting to get on that English train and getting on that English train.
maka language consulting
