5 Tips for Shifting Your Mindset for Growth and Achieving Success in English Language Learning

There’s a mindset shift that needs to happen to continue to grow.

You know how there comes a time when you’re good enough at something that you can get by?

Like skiing or snowboarding? You can get down the hill in one piece. But you’re not quite advanced enough to do jumps, tricks, rails. You kinda just do it for the social aspect. You’re stuck in a perpetual intermediate skill level

Well, a mindset shift needs to happen.

Here are 5 ways to push your limits, grow some more, and have more runway to aspire.

1. Set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals for yourself.

This can help you stay focused and motivated as you work towards specific milestones.

Smart goals are important. They force you to clearly state timelines, expectations, measurable pre- and post-comparison markers, and force you to have an honest and authentic introspective conversation with yourself about the realistic parameters of your goals.

Are you actually going to be able to achieve this or are you just bullshitting?

Are you just saying you’ll get this done, or will you carve out time in your day to make it happen?

It’s the same as a budget. You set specific goals to move towards your target. Otherwise, money won’t magically appear in a category for you to now spend.

Just like how a goal like “I want to become more physically fit” is a vague goal, it is much easier to understand and achieve a goal such as “I want to be able to do 20 push ups with no breaks within 2 weeks by practicing every other day”. It becomes a more concrete, attainable, stepwise goal with a clear timeline.

2. Find ways to challenge yourself.

This might involve tackling new projects, learning new skills, or taking on additional responsibilities.

It can become easy to slip into a comfortable state. By now, your English pronunciation and communication skills are already good enough. Good enough to communicate your ideas to English speaking friends, coworkers, and clients. Good enough to express yourself in another language. Good enough to get by. Good enough.

The issue is now that you CAN communicate in English, is there a desire to BECOMING BETTER.

The way you can get better is by tackling new projects, finding new responsibilities, and deciding on higher, grander needs for your English communication. What about becoming a project lead that requires you to communicate on an international scale or with multiple stakeholders on both the client side and back end? What about becoming a seller and needing to become more persuasive or pitch people?

You can also find new role models or aspirations to aim for. When you first learn English, communicating like any native English speaker is the dream. But as you grow and gain a better understanding of English communication, not all native English speakers communicate the same. There are levels of English communicators and some are more persuasive, more confident, more charismatic, more intelligent, more logical and more empathetic than others. Finding role models who communicate with a specific style or manner of speech identifies a new level of communication growth for you to aim for. For example, I would argue that Bruce Lee was a very charismatic communicator. Neil Degrasse Tyson is a very intelligent speaker. Random native English speaker working at a retail store may not be. So elevate your aspirations.

3. Seek out opportunities for growth and development.

This could include attending conferences, workshops, or classes, or finding a mentor who can help you learn and grow.

You don’t know what you don’t know. So start there.

Taking classes or workshops, attending conferences or finding a mentor can be a huge game-changer for improving your English communication. Finding someone who can give you direct feedback on better ways to communicate your thoughts is vital to growing. Taking a class with a speech therapist for accent modification or an English language teacher can be a way to grow. Taking an acting class or speaking class can let you focus on different aspects of your communication like your confidence, your expressions, your nonverbal cues, your body language, or your breath support. Taking a class in stand-up comedy for example may develop transferrable skills such as delivery, timing, the effectiveness of pauses, or how to adjust your delivery based on what your audience gives you.

4. Keep learning fun.

Find ways to make learning enjoyable, whether that's through hands-on experimentation, working on a team, or finding creative ways to apply what you're learning.

It is vital to keep learning fun to keep it from becoming a chore. We will only pursue passions with the same dedication if we enjoy them. So make sure you see English language learning as a fun and enjoyable passion. If you simply see it as a chore or something you have to do, it’ll be much harder to keep motivated. Learn to love the process. Learn to love the nuances of English. Learn to enjoy exploring and finding new patterns that English speakers use or weird observations. This kind of attitude will keep English language learning fresh and exciting.

5. Stay positive and keep a growth mindset.

Remember that learning and growing is a lifelong process, and that every challenge and setback is an opportunity for growth.

Positivity is infectious. If you are positive about your growth, it can shift your attitude. For example, let’s say you make a mistake or an error that leads to a miscommunication. A positive mindset or attitude would see that incident as a learning experience, a moment of growth and a chance to practice a new skill for next time. A more negative attitude might see the moment as a failure, an unsurmountable problem, and a discouraging event. That can spiral into a wave of frustration, and embarrassment. Which it really isn’t. It’s honestly so impressive that you can already communicate in a different language! So hold your head up high! You’re doing great!