Intro
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| Becky: Welcome to a special Inner Circle Audio Lesson! I'm Becky and I'll be your host. My co-host today is the founder of InnovativeLanguage.com... Peter Galante! |
| Peter: Hi everyone! Peter here. |
| Becky: In this Inner Circle, we’re talking about How Far You’ve Come... |
| Peter: ...and The Law of Increasing Motivation. |
| Becky: You’ll learn why it’s important to take a look at how far you’ve come... |
| Peter: ...as in, reviewing the progress that you’ve made thus far. |
| Becky: How to increase your motivation and success over time... |
| Peter: ...And what to do if you haven’t been hitting your goals this past year. |
| Becky: All so you can master your target language and finally reach your goals! |
| Body |
| Becky: Listeners, welcome back to the Inner Circle. |
| Peter: Last time, you learned all about Analysis Paralysis... |
| Becky: Meaning getting stuck on the details of language... |
| Peter: ...such as ONLY focusing on grammar, pronunciation... or which resource to use... |
| Becky: ...and neglecting the big picture of making actual progress and hitting your goals. |
| Peter: This time, we’re talking about the mid-year review. |
| Becky: Yeah, I remember! You said you wanted to cover this in the last Inner Circle. |
| Peter: It’s an absolute must Becky. It’s important to see how far you’ve come... |
| Becky: ...What’s working and what’s not.... |
| Peter: ....And it’s especially important for increasing motivation. You’ll find out why soon. |
| Becky: And it’s already August Peter. Technically the year’s already more than half over. |
| Peter: Don’t worry Becky, we still have time and I’m on track to meet my 30-minute goal for the year. |
| Becky: Oh? How did you do this past month? |
| Peter: I promised to hit...17 minutes of Spanish conversation? Right? |
| Becky: You definitely did. Why, did you forget? |
| Peter: Well... |
| Becky: Don’t hide. Let’s have it, Peter. |
| Peter: Haha.. Becky, sorry to disappoint you. I’m at 20 minutes now. |
| Becky: What? You beat your promised goal? |
| Peter: I’m on a Spanish-speaking mission! You can check with my tutor. |
| Becky: What’d you do differently this month? |
| Peter: Well, it’s not what I did differently. It’s more what has happened this past year. This is where the mid-year review comes in. |
| Becky: So today, listeners, we’re talking about How Far You’ve Come... |
| Peter: ...and The Law of Increasing Motivation. |
| Becky: And in this Inner Circle, you’re going to learn: |
| Peter: One – why it’s important to take a look at how far you’ve come |
| Becky: Two – How to increase your motivation and success over time. |
| Peter: ...and Three – what to do if you haven’t been hitting your goals this past year. |
| Becky: Peter, so far you’ve had a pretty good year, huh? |
| Peter: I had a horrible start, Becky. I failed my first two goals, right? |
| Becky: Yeah that is right. But now you have a good streak going. You’ve definitely come a long way. |
| Peter: Right. And reflecting on past progress is crucial for future progress. |
| Becky: So let’s get into the first point. |
| Peter: Why it’s important to take a look at how far you’ve come |
| Becky: Listeners, how far along are you with your goals? |
| Peter: Be sure to let us know. Take a look at your month-by-month results. |
| Becky: How many of your goals did you miss? How many did you hit? |
| Peter: If you hit your goals – congratulations. You’re definitely on the right track. |
| Becky: And if you haven’t, it’s not the end of the world. We’ll tell you why soon. |
| Peter: But looking back on your progress is very important. |
| Becky: How so? |
| Peter: First and foremost, it’s a huge accomplishment, Becky. There are tons of people who want to learn a language... |
| Becky; ...but have either given up or never even started. |
| Peter: So listeners, definitely mark this as an accomplishment if you’ve gotten THIS far. |
| Becky: Right. Progress is based on the amount of time you put in... |
| Peter: ...and just sticking with it longer guarantees that you’ll get better. |
| Becky: Albert Einstein said it so well... |
| Peter: ...“It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stick with problems longer." |
| Becky: Listeners, the second reason why you should take a look back is... |
| Peter: ...to see which methods have been working for you... |
| Becky: ...and which ones haven’t. |
| Peter: Last time, we talked about beating Analysis Paralysis... |
| Becky: ...and spotting methods that don’t help your overall goal... |
| Peter: ...such as focusing on details... |
| Becky: ...like pronunciation or memorizing grammar rules. |
| Peter: ..when your real goal is to speak more. |
| Becky: Listeners, if you’ve missed a monthly goal... |
| Peter: ...look at the learning routines for that month. |
| Becky: If they didn’t work, cut them out. |
| Peter: And if you’ve been hitting your goals, take a look at what you’ve been doing. |
| Becky: Chances are, you’ll want to maintain that routine. |
| Peter: So far, Becky, I think most of my methods have been working for me. |
| Becky: Oh? |
| Peter: Well, except one. It’s not a method. It’s more of a bad habit. |
| Becky: What is it? |
| Peter: It’s that I didn’t start focusing on my Spanish studies earlier. Those two failed months. Becky, I could’ve made so much more progress if I had started focusing earlier. |
| Becky: You’re definitely making up for it now, Peter. |
| Peter: That’s right. I’m extremely motivated. And this is where the third reason comes in. |
| Becky: Looking back at your progress is very motivating. |
| Peter: But listeners, as you all know... motivation can come and go. |
| Becky: ...but you can definitely make it grow over time. |
| Peter: So, Let’s get into the second point of this Inner Circle. |
| Becky: How to increase your motivation and success over time. |
| Peter: So the reason I wish I had started focusing earlier... |
| Becky: Yeah? |
| Peter: Becky, I’d be at my yearly goal - 30 minutes by now. I’d be so much better at Spanish! |
| Becky: Why do you say that? |
| Peter: It’s because now that I’m on a streak, I’m super motivated to get even better. |
| Becky: Well, that definitely explains how you hit 20 minutes this month! |
| Peter: It does, and I’ll tell you why. You know the law of diminishing returns, right? |
| Becky: Right. Where the value or benefit of something goes down over time? |
| Peter: Well, there’s actually an opposite side to that. |
| Becky: Increasing returns? |
| Peter: Exactly! I like to call it... the Law of Increasing Returns. Let me give you an example. Say you have a well run championship franchise. They run their organization well. They’re doing well. And they’re in line to win the championship next year. |
| Becky: |
| Peter: And then you have a very talented player from another team that’s not going to win a championship. This player will take less money, a lot less money, to join the championship franchise for the chance to win a championship. That body of work that the franchise has put in is now paying off. It’s increasing returns! People are willing to take below market value to join that team for a chance to win the championship. |
| talented sports player. He’s very good. He’s seen himself grow. And now, he wants to win the championship. That’s his new goal. |
| Becky: Now, doing something for less money doesn’t make sense for most people. |
| Peter: But that’s how motivated this person is. Nothing is going to stop that person from giving themselves the best chance at winning. |
| Becky: His future success has more priority... |
| Peter: Exactly. |
| Becky: Alright, Peter. How on earth does this this apply to language learning? |
| Peter: So, much like that player, like the championship has increased in importance for him, that he’s willing to take less money. Once you get on a steak Becky, reaching your goal every month, that goal is now high on your priority list. For me it’s up there with eating and sleeping. It becomes a part of your routine because you want that next goal. And the motivation level increases so much. |
| Becky: You want to keep going with Spanish? |
| Peter: Spanish has risen on my priority list. It’s now one of the 10 most important things I do in my daily routine. |
| Becky: Wow! It’s amazing how a little success gave you motivation to want a lot more. |
| Peter: That’s right. In fact, Spanish is much more important to me now than it was in April. |
| Becky: Because its importance grew over time? |
| Peter: And because I hit my goals. I’ve experienced some success. |
| Becky: And your confidence? |
| Peter: Has grown with it. And as humans, it’s important to reach goals and be successful and this has helped in all aspects of life |
| Becky: Yeah, that’s really interesting how that works. But how can our listeners copy this for themselves? |
| Peter: The honest answer, Becky, it’s time. |
| Becky: Ah. That’s why this part is called “How to increase your motivation and success over time.” |
| Peter: Listeners, simply put, if you’re on track... |
| Becky: ...if you’re hitting your goals... |
| Peter: ...and most importantly, if you keep going... |
| Becky: ...your motivation will grow over time. |
| Peter: My motivation was 0 out of 10 in January. If you doubt me, go back and listen. In April, maybe a 5. |
| Becky: And now it has to be a 9 out of 10. |
| Peter: So, listeners, building on your past successes and progress... |
| Becky: ....you become a lot more motivated to make more progress. |
| Peter: And your language goal is now a higher priority in your life. |
| Becky: Alright. So, what about listeners that haven’t hit their goals? We actually received an email from one Inner Circle Member here. |
| Peter: Let’s listen to it. |
| Becky: Here it is. “Hi Peter, Thank you for that analysis paralysis episode. I wanted to ask a question about getting back on track. I started January strong this year. I’m learning Japanese and like you, I’m focusing on conversation. I was up to 5 minutes in February. But, I’ve gotten sidetracked with work. I failed my goals from March to June. What’s a good way to get back? Thanks again. Donny” |
| Peter: This one fits in well with the third point. So, let’s get into it. |
| Becky: What to do if you haven’t been hitting your goals this past year. |
| Peter: The good news is that it’s definitely not the end of the world. |
| Becky: And how would you answer this email, Peter? |
| Peter: So, Donny, remember, any amount of time spent in language learning is time invested in bettering yourself. You can’t look at it like “I failed” or “I didn't reach my goal.” |
| Becky: How can he look at it? |
| Peter: Look at it like this... because you studied in January and February... and take the year as a whole. 2015, this year... your knowledge, as a whole of Japanese, is greater than the previous year, right? |
| Becky: Right! Yeah, there are two ways of looking at it. |
| Peter: So either you didn’t succeed or either you’re closer to the goal than last year. |
| Becky: And for Donny, he’s closer to his goal than last year. That last one is a very positive way of looking at it. |
| Peter: And I think that’s how you should look at it. Take the way I progressed and apply it to that daily schedule. |
| Becky: As in, your 6-month streak? |
| Peter: Exactly. The more consistent you’ve been, the more you’ll achieve in the future. I wasn’t as motivated in my 2nd month. But by my 8th month, and with enough success, I’m extremely motivated to keep going. And here’s how... |
| Becky: Listeners, be sure to try this as well. |
| Peter: Donny, try to study Japanese 7 days in a row. How much you study in any given day isn’t that important... yet. |
| Becky: But consistency is, right? |
| Peter: Exactly. As you hit the 7th day and 8th day, the priority of improving your language gets higher than the day before, and much higher than the first day. |
| Becky: So, the longer you do it, the better it is. And also, the easiest way to start again is to set a small, monthly goal with a deadline. |
| Peter: Right. Aim a little lower to make it easier for yourself. |
| Becky: Alright, Peter. You’ve hit 20 minutes. You have a 30-minute goal of Spanish conversation for this year. |
| Peter: And there are 4 months left. August is just about over. |
| Becky: What’s your goal for September? |
| Peter: I’ll be aiming for... 23 minutes. |
| Becky: Sounds good! Listeners, be sure to set your monthly goals as well. |
| Peter:... and email us at inner dot circle at innovativelanguage dot com. |
| Becky: Let us know how you’ve done thus far! |
Outro
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| Becky: Well, that’s going to do it for this special Inner Circle lesson! |
| Peter: Bye everyone! |
| Becky: Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time. |
Comments
HideI’d also like to know: How has this year worked out for you so far? Do you regularly keep track of your progress? Why or why not? How do you grow your motivation?
Send me an email at: inner.circle@innovativelanguage.com
See you next month!
Peter Galante, Founder
Team FinnishPod101