Is complacency hurting your English learning?
“Complacency” is the feeling you have when you are satisfied with your current level or ability in some area of your life. This feeling can cause you to stop putting in 100% effort to improve. It makes you feel relaxed and unmotivated. Complacency is a big reason why so many people achieve an ok level at something, and then stop improving.
This can happen in any area of your life, but let’s take a look at your English level. As I’ve said many times before, if you can use this website, it means your English level is already fairly good. You can “get by” in life using English. You know that you should improve, you say that you want to improve, but in a lot of ways there is no real pressure for you to improve. Let’s face it; you can already communicate with people in English at a reasonable level. You also are starting to realize that the more you study, the less noticeable your improvement is. You could probably spend an entire day studying English, and neither you, nor anyone else would notice that you improved. That’s a sad thought and that feeling certainly makes it difficult to find the motivation to study.
I believe that complacency is one of the biggest differences between highly successful people and regular people. The most successful people are always trying to improve. They want to be the best they can be. Regular people get satisfied easily. Think about Roger Federer. He still practices tennis everyday, even though it is almost impossible for him to improve because he is already so good.
Here is the truth: There are literally millions of other people like you around the world who speak English as a second language and have reached an ok level. Most people in this group reach an ok level and then stop improving. They get lazy. Very few people reach the next level because of complacency. Just because your English level is ok, don’t let that stop you from studying really hard. Reaching that next level will give you better job opportunities and the ability to interact with more people. You will feel comfortable reading anything, and speaking to anyone about any topic easily and with no stress. The hard work will eventually pay off, and deep down you know that too. Keep focused and don’t let the disease of complacency get to you.
I’m interested in hearing about anytime in your life where you’ve let complacency take over and prevent you from giving a 100% effort. I really hope that if this is happening with your current English study habits, you will STOP IT!
Andrew
November 2nd, 2007 at 6:07 pm
Finally get the time to know more about you, I am really falling love with your voice, your two, Andrew & Addison,
just this morning I found your laughters were the same in the Lesson” Date”, once again to make sure, it turns out all is the Andrew’s. @#@$#, anyway, Loving all your smiles…
Ya, I am that kind of pepole easy to satisfy, just like says” Easy come, easy go”, complacency gives me a easy life, makes me take little serious of the things, also take the english somewhat just for fun. but when talking with my new foreign friends, I really suck. No enough words to explain my opinion clearly….
So I begin to learning english with heart now, sure thanks to your hard working!!
Thanks again, Take care
shanie
November 3rd, 2007 at 12:50 pm
I experience moments of complacency quite a lot these days when you just fail too often and “making it” for once just feels so good,but I’ve come to learn to deal with it by letting the complacency go a little (sometimes a lot) overboard so that I can be greeted with one huge failure on a coming task just to slap me hard.It’s quite abusive an approach,kind of like an emotion roller-coaster,but it works,and for better or for worse,it’s roller-coaster.lol
November 6th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
Thanks for writing this article. I hardly experience the ‘complacecy’ with my English study. However, i do slow down a bit from time to time and feel confused about my ‘slow’ improvement.I suppose it improves as long as i’m exposed to the English which is slightly above my level.
Anyway, really appreciated for the efforts you put on this site. I check them out and find them useful on a daily basis.
Best wishes to you guys and your family! I hope you dad and mom are having fun in Shanghai!
I’m saying hello from here in Shenzhen.:)
November 7th, 2007 at 8:52 am
i’m a member in your fourm discussion. As i said before in the fourm discusssion this is the first time for me to wirte comments or post at internet. i have written 5 post or you can say reply but i didnt receive any reply. You talked about compleceny which could stop learning english but also there are so many things could do the same thing. when i joined your site i was very excited and for ten days i spent so many times to read you r posts and i bought new ipod specially to download your post. But i’m amazing why dont no body reply to my mail althogh i sent it long time back. This also stop learning english becusae there is no motivation. sorry so say that but i really need reply from you to encourge me. Maybe i dont understand the policy in your site or rule, please just tell me what to do.
November 15th, 2007 at 5:41 am
I am a member from Shanghai, I love your blog very much. Recently the fourm discusssion is not available. What’s wrong with it? About this topic, I want to say my story. In university, I am satisfying for my English level after past CET examination. I stop studying English hardly, so after 3 years of granduation, I found a lot of words is not remembered. When I talk English, some general words can’t spoken out. So I decide to practise more, reading English articles and listening English materials is my daily work. Eventually, the feeling is back. Now I am full of confidence. I believe I’ll be handle English well in the future. At last, I wish this website will be better. Thanks for Andrew and Addision!
November 16th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
That was a very good post, it is so important to remind people sometimes that “complacency” is normal but it is detrimental to any goal you are trying to accomplish. I think you are doing a great job and helping a lot of people.
Thank you.
February 23rd, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Hi Andrew,
You are right in your blog. I think that complacency is kind of an obstacle in any aspect in our lives to stop us from being successful. What is ok level actually depends on what we think about. Knowledge is an endless ocean without shores we can reach. Only we can keep on going forward, the more we do, relatively the more benefit we get.
Complacency can makes us get satisfied with what we have done that we feel that is already the best. Hence, We will keep this level as it is and have no desire to step further.
Things always like this. As being an ordinary guy of me, I often feel satisfied with what I have done when I have made my best efforts on it. Actually, there are many flaws I should improve upon exposure. Studying English is a good example. I once stopped from learning it for some reasons. But when I dealt with foreigner, it seemed what I have learnt has been away from my brain. So I realize, how much time I have ever spent on, now it will become almost a zero if I still keep the way as usual as before without any good change. I feel myself is behind others who was behind me before. For this, I am so saddened.
Anyway, your blog could remind us so much of how important it is to keep on learning if we want to be successful people. Thanks so much for Andrew giving us a good remark on his blog, and hope you could blog more very often. Thanks again.
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March 28th, 2008 at 1:59 am
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thank you so much! God Bless and more power to you guys!
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