People in their handlings of affairs often fail when they are about to succeed. If one remains as careful at the end as he was at the beginning, there will be no failure.

Lao Tzu

Among the countless challenging tasks of modern human life, two particular tasks stand out because they are shared by many people and seemingly have simple solutions, yet ones which are inexplicably elusive. These two tasks are saving money and loosing/maintaining weight. With regards to money, many of us fall into one extreme or the other; either we save every penny refusing ourselves all pleasures and lead very ascetic lives, or, on the contrary, we spend everything and become entangled in debts. Very few know how to steadily and consistently save money without sacrificing their life style. As for weight consistency, some people have excellent metabolisms and can allow themselves to eat as much as they want without being concerned about gaining weight. However, most of us either have restrict ourselves or go between two opposing stages: being on a strict diet or indulging as if it were  our last day to live. This constant battle touches many human lives, and as a result, various corporations have created multibillion industries that claim  to help people save money or lose weight. 

What do weight and money struggles have to do with learning foreign languages? All of them are actually related because by mastering simple steps a person will be able to save money, lose or maintain weight, and master a foreign language. These fundamental steps first appear to be ridiculously simple, but implementing them requires a constant everyday fight with yourself, your doubts, low confidence, predictable excuses, and all-consuming boredom. The basic idea comes down to getting into the habit of doing something very small, for short period of time, but regularly until the result, which may take many years, is achieved. How does this translate into the practice of saving money, loosing weight or learning a foreign language?

People fail because they fall into extremes. They establish highly unsustainable goals, which are only realistically possible for short periods of time, until the initial impetus of motivation and enthusiasm dissipates. If someone tries to save a significant percentage of their monthly income, they will start enthusiastically, but after some time they will feel depressed by the impossibility of this task, or if they are able to persist, they will maniacally subjugate the entirety of their life to achieve this goal. Instead, the simple principle of saving a a small amount each month without stopping will go unnoticed and will not affect person’s life, but will eventually produce tremendous results. With the modern possibility of automatic transfers to a saving account, one can efficiently and painlessly achieve their goal of saving money by forming a habit, and sticking to the plan religiously.

There are literary thousands of diets, some fads and some scientifically-backed, which aim to help people lose weight. Nevertheless, so many of us struggle with extra weight and are convinced of the impossibility of losing weight, despite the fact that this task is no different from other difficult tasks in life, and thus requires the same simple approach. Deciding to start a diet on a random day, which will require changing the one’s eating habits and completely avoiding certain types of food, in order to loose 10+ pounds per month almost never works in the long run. Instead, cutting a small amount from every meal over long period of time and lessening the frequency of consumption of certain foods is destined to succeed in the long run. 

I first discovered this simple rule of achieving great results by doing very little over a long period of time in graduate school when I had three side jobs, a small child, and I also started a new business by myself. I was crushed by impossibility to work on my dissertation because of all the obligations I had in my life. So, I decided to allocate two hours per day to work on my dissertation, which was, in reality, already too much because I did not have two hours per day to spend. I adjusted it to working for at least 20-45 minutes per day. There were days when I only worked for 10 minutes. However, in the end, I filed may dissertation and received my PhD in French in May of 2016. 

I was never a very athletic person to say the least. I also struggled with extra pounds all my life. In the Spring of 2019, I decided to start doing yoga every day. It was an impossible and tiring task for the first 2-3 months. Every single day I had to force myself to get up and start my day with 15-20 minutes of yoga. After the first few months, I stopped feeling forced and had neutral feelings towards my morning yoga. Now, two years into my morning yoga routine, I enjoy every minute of it and always feel great after. 

Learning a language is not a fast journey. You will need a lot of consistency to make sure you study every day for a short time (even 15 minutes would work). There will be days at the beginning, when you will feel forced and find excuses not to do it. Fight yourself. I promise you that it will get easier in two months. It will become a part of your routine. 

Good luck battling yourself in order to achieve better life balance, save money, keep healthy weight, and learn as many languages as you want to discover new cultures and new civilizations!

Olga Sylvia, PhD