You know that little voice that is like: “You should listen to the audio for that phrase” or, “You should say that phrase you know!” or even, “You should open your box.” It’s such a LITTLE thing to do, but then you don’t. You just don’t do that little thing after you get such a good idea.
That’s resistance coming in and stopping you. Resistance is what stops you from doing what you want or even need to do. And resistance comes at all of us.
Especially when we’re trying to elevate ourselves to reach our goals–to take our life from one level to an even higher level.
And learning a foreign language is exactly that. When you can actually talk in a foreign language with your family, you can do more good in the world by being able to serve and help more people. You can connect with your community. You can open up future educational and job opportunities for yourself and your children. And you can connect with others when you can travel again.
I’d like you to think about what resistance you feel when you’re learning a foreign language… or wanting to learn a foreign language! First, think about what that little voice has asked you to do. Or in my case, shown me what to do. Because I don’t hear a little voice. I see a scene in my mind, and I know that is the thing I need to do.
What is the next thing you need to do to reach your goal? If you want to speak a foreign language with your family, you have to do the work. Like, listen to the audio, practice with your family, have conversations in the language, and show up to learn.
Then… think about what gets in your way of actually acting on it.
This isn’t about looking at your excuses but rather looking at your actions. Like what are you physically doing instead?
One of the biggest forms of resistance comes from distractions. And I’m not talking about your kids distracting you. I’m talking about what you choose to distract yourself with. Like, mindlessly scrolling through Facebook, going down a rabbit hole of videos until you’re watching people build castles out of the mud in the jungle with little sticks. I’ve been there.
But here’s the thing about resistance: it’s going to come at you every single day. And until you’re like, “Girl, this has got to stop,” it will hold you away from your goals. And because it comes at you every single day, you have to face it head-on every day to push past it.
And I know you want to! You wouldn’t have started your language journey if you didn’t want to. Wanting to learn a language as a family means you want to elevate your life. And if you want to elevate your life, you want to push past resistance to become that bilingual or multilingual family. I know you can do it.
So here are three things I want you to do to help you push past the resistance you feel in your life.
1. Show up.
And I’m not saying that like it’s an easy thing to do. In fact, I created a limiting belief for myself where I thought that it doesn’t really matter if I show up. That someone else can do whatever I was trying to do, and maybe it would even work out better if I didn’t show up. So, previously, I didn’t show up. I let things slide. I was late. And I didn’t show up 100% even when I did show up.
It made me feel bad and conflicted until I realized that I thought I wasn’t important to my family. And I’m dang important to my family! I’m important in shaping our lives. And so are you. You are so, so important to your family. Your family is lucky to have you. And they deserve you to show up as much as you deserve to show up.
So show up to listen to your audio. Show up to put up your language guide. Just show up. Even when you don’t feel like it. Because you not feeling like it is resistance. And you will feel SO good once you take that resistance head-on and show up.
2. Inspire others.
If you have a child who is resistant to learning a foreign language, inspire them by letting them see you enjoying yourself and having fun with the language. Lead by example, and show them the steps you’re taking to learn. With no pressure on them! You can even show them other kids in the hotshot group trying out phrases, and let them be inspired by them.
If you’re the one that needs inspiration, let your child inspire you if they love the language. Or scroll through our Facebook group and be inspired by other members like Jessi, Isabella, McKenna, Rachel, Rebecca, Shaila, Cindy, Janelle, Kaeti, and Ivy to name just a few.
Also, please, please, show your child how you are overcoming the resistance you face. Like, if you get a feeling or thought you should listen to your audio, but you rather look at Instagram, tell them. You can say, “Oh my goodness. I just thought we should listen to our audio, and instead, I want to open Instagram. That’s totally resistance. Let’s open the app and listen to one phrase to push past this resistance.”
Why would you do this? Because your child is going to face SO MUCH resistance in their life. And if they have an example of their mom overcoming it, they can take that with them and overcome resistance when it comes to doing other things, like their math or making big life choices when they’re older. Your little example can change their lives because remember, you’re important in your family.
3. Seriously have fun.
Be very intentional about having fun. Because “a horse that wants to race will beat a horse that is forced.” What does that mean? Racehorses who win races are ones that love the race–not ones that are being forced to race. So the best way to train a racehorse is to make it fun… make them feel like they’re playing.
Where in your life have you seen this to be true? Maybe you struggled in your high school foreign language class. You didn’t want to be there, it felt like a requirement, and you struggled to be inspired and find joy in participating. It may be now that you’re trying to relearn the language. Or your child might be like, “Why is my mom making me do this?”
If that’s the case, please go back to your Fun Sheet in Box 1. It will inspire you to push past resistance.
And how do we move into having fun?
You can have fun trying out your phrases on each other. You can switch out your phrases with words that are silly, like put cereal on your toothbrush. You can say your phrases in silly voices. You can come up with hilarious TikToks where you use a phrase. You can make an activity or do one of the activities on our activity lists. Whatever gets you actually TALKING and using your phrases is pure gold.
Now, when you hear that little voice, telling you to do something, inspiring a fun activity in your mind, and you are about to fall into the trap of resistance, remember to show up, inspire others, and have fun.
So what’s that little voice telling you to do right now?! Go do it! I’m cheering for you!
<3
FB Live Trainings
Private FB Lives are on Thursdays at 3 pm CT. Don’t miss out on the weekly exclusive training for TalkBox.Mom families!
Hotshot Winner
Every week in the private TalkBox.Mom FB Group, we use our random number generator to find a #hotshot post to win one of mine and Kaeti’s favorite things.
To enter, post what you did in the TalkBox.Mom program with the hashtag #hotshot. Your post can be text, an image, a video, or a combo of any of those. You can post once per day to make a new entry for each day of the week.
Congratulations to:
- Kristee for winning the Hotshot prize of the week! We are sending you this super cute pink planter pot!
Hotshot Shout-Outs!
We’ve had some great posts in the private TalkBox.Mom FB Group. Here are 5 members I want to celebrate with you:
Jessi, your family is on fire! I love seeing all your posts. Your family is working so hard to learn Hebrew together. Great job putting the snack cards together!
Heather, it looks your children had a fun time with the snack chart! They are so cute and I love how you have a whole picnic set out for them. Very fun!
Laura, the water activity you described sounds so fun and a great way to practice the phrases and serving others!
Abbi, this video of you and your child practicing swing phrases was SO cute! Awesome job using those phrases while you’re having so much fun!
Rachel, what a fun way to practice the food vocabulary from Box 1. This is a great idea!
Thank you so much for letting us help your family use a foreign language every single day!!
xo,
Adelaide
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