Learning is my favourite sport

Learning is my favourite sport. And I am going to start practicing... on Monday

Like doing sport or dieting, learning needs discipline. And routine. And motivation. And a perfect day to start. Let's say, Monday. Why not? What's wrong with starting on Monday? For me, there is nothing wrong with starting on Friday, either. It's not the day, it's the reluctance to begin that keeps us back from actually starting and doing. 

Let's take sport. Things to be thought over: right clothes, good weather or a round-the-corner gym, a suitable playlist, a friend to accompany. When do I start? Well, maybe next time...

Let's take dieting. Things to be thought over: a tasty diet, shopping for new clothes (I am going to lose weight, so I need to change my outfit!!!), friends to support me, something else to opt for instead of eating. When do I start? Well, maybe next time...

Let's take learning. Things to be thought over: the best course, the best teacher, the best day to start... again?!. Not this time! 

Here are some tricks to use in order to start now and succeed:

Stop looking for the best. Good enough works just as well.

Start NOW! Don't wait for the most suitable time, just grab your wish to learn something new (a skill, a language, a school subject) and use its enormous energy that will bring great results!

Be consistent. Choose something you like doing in terms of your learning process and repeat it daily. Say, you enjoy watching videos and want to learn a foreign language. Start watching videos in this language, do this every day at a certain time, turn it into a habit, and see how it works.

Don't drop. Like with sport or a diet, dropping would mean getting back to where you started. Still want to be fit? Go on and practice, the result is worth it! 

Measure your success. In learning it's extremely hard to assess progress. Still, try setting reachable goals and notice when you achieve them. For instance, a goal might be reading 20 pages a day (a week) of a book in a foreign language. When you finish reading these 20 pages, you can know you've reached the goal.

Encourage yourself! Think of a small and pleasant prize you will get every day or week of consistent learning, or every time you get a visible result.

And by the way... Doing sport also helps your brain to be active and sensitive to new knowledge. And feeding your brain with exciting information is able to reduce compulsive eating. So why don't we combine sport, dieting and learning and start today?