If "Learn Spanish" has been on your New Year's Resolutions List since 2014, then there's no reason why this year should be any different. I think it's time we re-assess your current approach to reaching your goals.
There are several reasons why people don't complete long term goals.
The first is the way they are describing them. If your goal is "become Fluent in Spanish" - that is really difficult to start today. Instead, try taking on a project mindset. So instead of "become Fluent in Spanish" your project would simply be "Learn Spanish". This is something you can start today.
The second reason why people don't complete their goals, or often even begin, is that the task feels completely overwhelming. The way to crack this is to plant seeds, not trees. This is a fundamental principle of The Eden Planner.
What does it mean?
Let's consider the experience of planting seeds. The process is usually quite simple, it's not very physically demanding, they don't take up a lot of immediate resources, and you make new discoveries as they grow.
Now consider the experience of transplanting fully grown trees. Yikes. Knowing where to even begin getting the tree in the ground is daunting as heck. They require huge amounts of resources, and you risk getting disheartened and giving up on all of them.
(I assume you see where we're going with this blatant metaphor.) While it's fine to visualise your perfect garden, trying to execute it straight away often leads to overwhelm or burn out. Failing to deliver on perfection is not how you learn to trust yourself. Taking small steps is.
EXAMPLE: If you have a dream of learning French, planting a tree would be: "I am going to practise for an hour a day, 5 days a week, starting tomorrow." That sounds like a beautiful tree, and maybe one day it will grow in your garden, but the task is daunting, the resources required are large and things that feel too hard often lead to hardcore procrastination.
Instead, try planting a seed. A seed would be "I am going to practice my French for 20 minutes before work on Monday mornings". Nurturing that seed feels achievable and far less intimidating. Slow and gentle increases in resources and time will give you the confidence to know you can progress.
Once you stop trying to jump into having a perfect garden and start with imperfect seeds, you will really begin making progress that lasts.
If you want to plant more seeds, The Eden Planner has been designed to help you. It's a 2023 weekly and monthly diary / planner from Australia. Join the community of people making slow and consistent progress here.
