Naturally, as in every progress towards achieving a goal, there comes a time when we get stuck. It feels like we are trying in vain and we cannot move forward. We feel that no matter how much we study or correct mistakes, we are stuck in the same level of aptitude and not advancing. This, in combination with corporal fatigue and stress can lead to a break down and denial to continue.
However, roadblocks are blocking our way if we stop, look at them and not move. Roadblocks don’t stop us from going left, right, over or under. When we know that we want to accomplish learning a foreign language, we will find a way around things.
Let’s keep in mind those simple but valuable things when we see a blockage.
♠ Let’s not hide any current failure under the rug, or pretend it didn’t happen. Let’s gain form it. What can we learn through it? In what way can we avoid repeating it? Mistakes are valuable if we use them in the right way.
♠ Take a deep breath. Breathe. Look at it with fresh eyes. If you are still stuck consult with your teacher. Have a deep and open conversation with him, talk about your frustration and worries. It is certain that they will be able to provide you with practical advice since they have been through this exact same process and they have overcome the same blocks.
♠ Create “The Once Impossible List”. This is going to be a list filled with goals that once seemed unattainable but still you managed to achieve them. For me this list includes, mastering five foreign languages, forming life-long friendships, achieving a Master’s Diploma through a scholarship and fixing my back problem through consistent gymnastics. All these things once looked impossible. Somehow, I found a way to make them happen. Let your list be a reminder of your big successes and show you that you can make the impossible possible.
♠ Roadblocks can look like speed bumps on your way to success. It would be useful for you to see them as things that slow you down before you reach your destination instead of blockages that impede your journey. Getting stuck at some stages, re-adjusting your course and refueling, are things meant to happen during every course.
♠ We can truly overcome the obstacle lying ahead of us only by identifying it. Is it lack of grammar analysis, is it insufficient vocabulary that cannot take us forward or is it lack of motivation and fatigue sinking in in combination with other factors? Focusing on feeling blocked will serve as nothing more other than procrastination and stress. So, by exactly identifying it, it will help us find a solution to the problem. Maybe it will be such a ground-breaking solution that we wouldn’t have thought under easy-going circumstances.
♠ Humbly, ask for help. Sometimes, all it takes to find another way when a roadblock is ahead of you is asking for advice. Apart from your teacher, the words of a good friend, mentor or parent can soothe your soul and offer you a clearer perspective. Sometimes, all we need to do is to recognize that we need help, and it will come.
♠ Go back to your basic principles. Gather your energy and then take massive action. You can’t always control the thing that got you stuck but you can produce some much action to attack it. Roadblocks will not move themselves. You either have to find a way to move them yourself or build so much momentum to blow through them.
One Response
Wow that was strange. I just wrote an extremely long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear.
Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyway, just
wanted to say excellent blog!