“The way you do one thing is the way you do everything”.

On becoming an ambassador for the “Generation E”* campaign, I had the opportunity to work with Mr. Dang Tran Tung, founder of The IELTS Workshop team.

From the perspective of people who use English as a tool to develop their work, the two brothers have a lot of similar views.

Here are 4 habits that Mr. Tung and I both shared, accumulated from our self-study journey.

1. First thing FIRST.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve avoided finishing an essay by sweeping the floor, tidying up my bookshelves, or trying through a few episodes of How I met your mother. This is called Productive Procrastination.

Because these tasks all seem meaningful, they temporarily make me feel less guilty about avoiding the main thing. But in essence, it is still delay, and sooner or later we will have to pay the price if we do not know how to prioritize.

2. There is no such thing as one giant step, just a lot of small steps.

If we keep focusing on the end goal, we will be easily discouraged because it feels like a far cry from reality. Instead, just break down the goal into actions that can be repeated daily, it’s just gonna be a matter of time that you reach your final destination.

Take my own experience of honing speaking skill as an example. I tried to remove the burden of grades little by little and, at the same time, fulfilled the promise to myself: practice speaking for 15-20 minutes a day at least, mainly by shadowing. As a result, my speaking score increased by 1.5 bands (from 6.5 to 8.0).

3. He who has a WHY can bear almost any HOW.

I have applied this method for my highschool exam, university exam and most recently, the IELTS test. It’s very simple: Take out a sheet of paper, on the front cover all the reasons you want to get this job done along with bright future prospects if you achieve your goal. The back side says how wrong things go if you give up. In the event of demotivation, look at the paper and read it out loud. You will be incentivised immediately.

Note: Your reasons/end goals need to be as realistic and specific as possible. For example, think about what you could do with $200 if you get the target score this time, without having to retake the exam.

4. The 2 minute rule

In psychology, there is a well-known law called the “2 Minute Law”. If there is something in your head that you want to do, do it within the next 2 minutes, otherwise it will be delayed for a long time.

This law is even more effective when applied to new challenges. Because after 2 minutes, usually you will get into the swing of the tasks and you’re even more excited to learn new things. Just like that, you will complete the goal to your own surprise.

And finally, why do we need these habits?
Because life doesn’t change if we just lie there and fantasize one day it will change.

If nothing changes,

NOTHING CHANGES.