😭 Do you feel guilty about not studying English?
Do you feel guilty about not studying English?
Do you use guilt/punishment as your primary motivation?
“If I’m not hard on myself, I’ll never get anything done” - does that sound like you?
Most language learners think that if they are hard on themselves – that is, if they criticize themselves when they don’t study English, or threaten themselves with horrible consequences if they don’t become fluent – they will slide into sloth (Idiom. Meaning ➡️ “gradually become lazy or unmotivated”)
They believe that they need a stern voice in their head, controlling their laziness and their procrastination. They fear that if they give up this inner dictator and critic, they will have no self-control at all.
But what if I told you that the scientists have proven that beating yourself up actually is the worst way to motivate yourself to do anything! There was a study on people who were trying to diet, and it found out that those people who felt guilty about breaking their diet ate 3 times more the next day than those who forgave themselves for indulging.
The same thing applies to learning English — the more you beat yourself up for being “lazy,” the less likely you are to start learning. We may think guilt motivates us, but it actually does the opposite.
So please be self-compassionate, celebrate your small wins, and who knows… maybe one day learning English will stop feeling like a chore — or worse, an excruciating torture — and you’ll actually start enjoying the process! 🎉
