508. Not making progress in English? Here's what might need to change

If you feel like you are stuck in English and you're not making progress, it's probably because of one of two things, and I'm gonna talk about this in this episode. In this episode, I wanna offer you some ideas that will help you understand what has been keeping you stuck and how by following these ideas and changing the way you think about things can absolutely transform how you practice and speak and use English regularly. So before we go into the content of today's episode, let me introduce myself. My name is Hadar. I'm a non-native speaker of English, and I'm here to help you speak English with clarity, with confidence, and with freedom. Definitely check out my website, HadarShemesh.com, for a lot of free resources, or follow me on social media for daily lessons and just to connect because it's fun. Why not? Follow me, it's gonna be worth it. Okay, so the two things. The first one is that you are not showing up consistently to learn and practice. Learning English requires you to build a consistent habit of practicing, speaking, using, learning, whatever it is that you do in that period of time that needs to be done consistently. Otherwise, your progress is not going to be consistent. Okay? So that is the first reason. And if you struggle with that, then 100% 100%, you need to understand what has been keeping you from building consistency in your English. The second thing, you are practicing, you are working, you are doing it, but you are not seeing progress because the way you're learning is just not effective. Okay? You are not learning in the way that your brain is designed to learn. You are not learning in the way that is right for you, and maybe you're learning things that you don't actually need, and therefore you're not using them. So it's either you're not building the infrastructure for learning, and if you have, you're not learning effectively. This is why you might feel stuck in English. So what I wanna offer you today is a way to think about your entire English experience and learning experience and the things that you have to shift and change and focus on so that you will start enjoying the journey, seeing progress, and finally feel like yourself in English. I have an English practice community to build confidence and fluency. It's called Beyond. If you want to find out more about it, I'm going to link all the information in the description. But in Beyond, we have 5 guiding values, and those values define who we are as non-native speakers learning, practicing, and immersing in English. And I want to share with you those values today so that you can come back to those values like we do inside Beyond. You can come back to those values and say, is this something that I wanna follow? Is this something that I want to define me, who I am as an English learner, as an English speaker? Because I guarantee from my experience with my Beyonders, from their experience, I guarantee that if you make these values your own, then your success is inevitable. I guarantee I have seen that over and over and over again, but it's only when you take full ownership over the outcome, over the results, and over these principles in the shape of values that I'm going to share with you today. Okay? So take a piece of paper and a pen and write those down because it's gonna be worth it. The first one is action over comfort. Let me read this to you. We take action even when it feels uncomfortable. We speak before we feel ready, turn on our camera, raise our hand, and try again even if our voice shakes. We practice courage together. When one person takes a risk, it makes it easier for others to do the same. Courage is not something we wait for. It is something we practice. If you can relate to that, or if you think this is something that feels far away from you, but you believe that you can do it, I encourage you to start prioritizing action over comfort. Moving on to the second value that we have in BEYOND, which is practice builds confidence. Confidence and fluency are not personality traits or talent. They are built through intentional, repeated practice. We do not look for quick wins or shortcuts. We show up consistently, repeat what matters, and trust the process. Small actions done often create real change. And this is the core element of what I talked about at the beginning. You gotta build the infrastructure that will allow you to practice consistently, because when you do, you build confidence. When you build confidence, you build fluency. They all go together. The next one is one of my favorite: communication over perfection. We speak to connect, not to sound perfect. Clarity matters more than accuracy. Expression and connection matter more than flawless grammar or vocabulary. In Beyond, mistakes are part of learning. We don't judge others for their mistakes, and we don't judge ourselves. We learn from them and move on. Okay? And this is an invitation to lighten up about your mistakes and even the mistakes of others around you, especially if you get overly judgmental or critical and you notice it everywhere, or it bothers you. Let go. Let go. Let go of your mistakes. Let go of other people's mistakes. As long as you are a clear communicator, and I'm not I'm not saying you shouldn't learn from mistakes, but you should not prioritize perfection because then you are compromising your own voice. You are compromising your freedom, and you gotta practice freedom. And to be able to practice freedom, that means that it's kind of like, I'm gonna do it, and if someone has a problem with it, they're gonna take it to their therapist. The fourth one, lead with care. This is about the sense of community, which is super, super important, and I believe it's such a fundamental part of creating an environment that allows you to thrive. So it's really important, the surroundings you're in, the people who are around you. Do you get support or do you get criticism? Do people want to do those things with you to develop, to improve in their English, or just, you know, personally, professionally? Or do they make fun of you and judge you for trying to do something better for yourself? Do you feel limited because of the people who are around you, or do you feel inspired and pulled into the person that you want to become? So building the right community around you is absolutely key. And when it comes to community, it's important to lead with care. And this is our fourth value. Community is something we build, not something we consume. We take responsibility for the energy we bring into the space. We lead with warmth, curiosity, and care. We respond generously. We listen fully. We stay present. We hold space. We lead with openness and kindness. We create a space where people feel safe to be themselves. So this idea that you are the first to take action, you initiate the conversation, but you also create a space for someone else to be is what allows freedom and this sense of give and take and reciprocity. When communicating, when, when building a community, and also when, when being in an environment that becomes the environment you want to be in. The last value I'm going to share with you is own your growth. This is really, really important, and this is especially important for you if you find yourself always looking for excuses for why things are not working, for why you are not yet fluent. Your progress belongs to you. Beyond gives you the structure, the right environment, coaching, and support. Your growth comes from choosing to show up, reflect, and continue, even when it feels challenging. We don't wait to be pushed. We don't wait for a reason that will force us to do the work. We choose to grow. Now, it doesn't matter if you're in Beyond or not. I wanted to share this with you because this idea of owning your growth is that yes, there are many reasons for why things may not work for you, but there are many reasons for why things may work for you. And if things don't work for you, it's your responsibility to change that. It's your responsibility to show up. If you, you have access to content, you have access to knowledge, you have access to resources. All of them and most of them are free. So even if you're not inside a community that offers all of that to you, it's still your responsibility to actually do the work. Even if you study one-on-one with a teacher and you're like, well, you know, it's up to them. No, it's still your responsibility to do the homework, to ask the right questions, to say when things don't work for you and not just to continue on and on. Without seeing progress. Okay? So this idea I think is key. So these 5 values, I'm gonna repeat them: action over comfort, practice builds confidence, communication over perfection, lead with care, and own your growth are the 5 concepts that if you own them, you are going to master your journey in English sooner or later, I guarantee. I know it sounds almost impossible to believe it, but I'm telling you, these are personality traits and how you show up in mindset shifts that if you commit to them, nothing is going to stand in your way in English and honestly in life. So I wanna offer it to you and I wanna offer you the opportunity to, to get the support that you need if you need it inside Beyond. I'm going to link all the information right below. So know that it's open to you if you want someone to push you in that direction, to remind you of those things, and to create the environment for you to, to practice consistently, lead with care, take action, and all of the things that we talked about. But whether you join us or you do it on your own, I promise you, I promise you that a change is possible. A transformation is possible. I have seen it. Over and over again. So let me know in the comments which one was your favorite value, which one you relate to the most, um, and we can continue our conversations there. Thank you so much for watching. Have a beautiful, beautiful rest of the week, and I will see you next week in the next video. Bye!