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. |
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