Most people have a personal reason to gain fluency in Spanish which usually helps to drive their learning forward at a health pace. It could be you've been offered an excellent career opportunity overseas, planning your retirement in a Spanish speaking country or even just an overwhelming desire to learn this most beautiful of languages. Of course, dedication and motivation are also highly important 'positive' learning habits which you are strongly advised to adopt. But... even with all these positive guidelines, why do many students fail and fall by the wayside? Well, in this article I’m about to explain their most common reason for failure which is the most 'negative' learning trait of them all... Procrastination!
We’ve all suffered from it at one time or another. Procrastination, the tendency to put off important tasks until the very last minute. This extremely bad habit will not only greatly hinder your ability to learn spanish, but may also create major setbacks in your personal life and career. Missed career promotions and business opportunities, longer working hours, stress, anger, bitterness, and a strong overpowering feeling of guilt are the common symptoms of this habit.
Here you will find some of the basic reasons for procrastination and some survival tips on how to avoid it...
First of all, you must always remember that you really 'want to learn Spanish' rather than 'have to learn Spanish'. You must replace the 'have to' with the 'want to'. This positive mindset will go a long way to your success. Always remember your own personal reasons for learning the language and the immense benefits of doing so. Procrastination only kicks in when you feel you have no other choice in the matter. Think about it, its human nature. If you convince yourself you 'have to' do something, you automatically feel as if you’re being forced to do it against your own free will. None of us like this feeling of pressure and deadlines so we rebel against it. Procrastination moves in, your original enthusiasm to weakens and you decide to begin your course 'sometime' in the distant future. Sadly for some, it never happens.
Another great way to avoid the possibility of procrastination from hindering your progress while learning Spanish is to take it slowly, one step at a time. Many people upon receiving their course material, look on it as one huge task which they have to complete and think they will never get through it all. This approach is virtually guaranteed to make you feel overwhelmed by it all so you will invent numerous excuses to postpone beginning your Spanish course. If you simply focus on one small part of your course at a time and get comfortable with it, you will be amazed at the progress you make.
Remember that to successfully learn Spanish, it is essential that initially you forget about perfectionism. Putting pressure on yourself to be absolutely perfect in Spanish pronunciation can lead to stress which should be avoided. If you allow stress to enter your learning then all enjoyment will be removed and it will become a painful ‘must do’ rather than a pleasant ‘want to’ experience. Allow yourself to be human and remember that a slightly imperfect Spanish vocabulary and pronunciation achieved today is far superior and worthwhile than no Spanish language skills at all.
