The Mindset Optimization Workbook

Make 2016 your year for fluency!

RealLife English
 RealLife English Mindset Optimization Toolbox
Motivation | Educational Psychology | Goal Setting

This is a workbook from RealLife English. We highly recommend you print this out, find a quiet space
where you can be alone, and fill in the questions with a pen (not just in your head). We hope this is of
huge help to you in your English learning, so you can make this year your year for fluency!

Table of Contents:

1. Connect to a Sense of Purpose: WHY Are You Learning English?

2. Develop a Growth Mindset
3. Commit, Re-commit, Dont Give Up
4. Clear, Tangible Goals & Accountability
5. Planning & Setting Up Your Life

I. Connect to a Sense of Purpose:

WHY Are You Learning English?

If you cultivate a deep sense of purpose, and

go to the root of WHY you are learning, its
always much easier to find the motivation you
need to build the habits, lifestyle, and
strategies you need to succeed.

For example, saying, because of my job is a really weak driver. You can dig much deeper into
the core of your motivation. How can fluency change your worldview and your life? What
doors can it open in your mind and heart? How does it truly give your life meaning?

Learning English with a powerful method, an incredible teacher, or a fun TV show will
definitely help, but having a clear and connected sense of WHY you are learning English will
be the most powerful fuel for every step of your process.

Digging Deeper: If youd like some more help finding your purpose, How Learning English
Can Make You a Global Citizen may be of service. We also recorded a RealLife Radio Podcast
episode on this topic: How to Be Successful at Anything- Start with Why, and theres an
excellent TED Talk we recommend called Start with Why.

II. Develop a Growth Mindset

Over the past few years, Stanford researchers have made HUGE cutting-edge discoveries in
the field of educational psychology, revealing the key mindset factors that are responsible for
success and optimal learning.
The research explains two key opposing mindsets, called Growth and Fixed Mindsets,
with each mindset accompanied by a completely different set of beliefs about the nature of
success, feedback, difficulty, challenge, and the entire learning process.

People who have a Growth Mindset see success and competence as a result of hard work
and dedication, they see constructive feedback as a way to improve, challenge as a necessary
part of the process, and the brain and talent as just starting points.

People who have a Fixed Mindset, on the other hand, believe that success is a product of
genetic programming; they are not as open to feedback, more likely to give up when they face
challenges, and they see the brain and natural talent as the most important ingredient.

Extensive research has been conducted on kids who demonstrate each of these mindsets, and
as you may have guessed, it shows that Growth Mindset learners dramatically improve and
optimize their performance, while Fixed Mindset learners remain much more stagnant.

This is not black and white, as most of us operate with a mixture of the two mindsets in
different activities, but this research gives us a framework to wake up to the ways in which we
limit ourselves, reprogram our attitude toward learning, and expand our perception of what is
possible.

It is a simple but profound idea, but I invite you to learn more about it below. When
understood and applied, it can make a huge difference in not just English, but anything you
learn.

Digging Deeper: If youd like to learn more about Growth and Fixed Mindsets, we
encourage you to listen to this RealLife Radio Podcast on the topic How to Think Like a
Fluent English Speaker, watching this TED Talk The Power of Belief & Mindset. You can also
learn more and take a simple interactive test here.

III. Commit, Re-commit, Dont Give Up:

The next piece of mindset advice is for you to

make a firm decision with yourself (and even
those around you) that you will do what it
takes to be successful.

You know there are going to be distractions,

obstacles, you know that list will get busy and
you may fall behind at points.

In fact, as the picture to the right illustrates

what one can expect when committing to a
goal.

At first, there is a lot of excitement and we are highly motivated towards our new aim. But
after a while, reality sets in as we realize the magnitude of what weve set out to accomplish.
But, if we persevere, with some hard work, eventually we obtain our goal, and its all worth it.
This is the reason that it is so crucial to have a strong WHY as we talked about in part one. Its
an anchor for you to return to if youre in a dip and feeling a lack of motivation. Returning to
your why can be the extra push you need to re-commit and continue towards your goal.

So, if you still havent watched the TED Talk we recommended in part one, consider watching
it now so you can learn how to create a strong why.

Digging Deeper: If youd like to learn more about the importance of a strong purpose and
how to stop making excuses for yourself, read The Powerful Secret of Successful Language
Learners and Whats Really Keeping You From Fluency. Also, if you want an interesting
podcast about determination taking you far, listen to this fascinating interview of Arnold
Schwarzenegger.

IV. Clear, Tangible Goals & Accountability

Weve already touched a bit on the importance of good goals on our journey to Fluency. But
you might be wondering, what makes good goals.

A rule to remember for this is to set SMART goals:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time-bound

So, keeping this in mind, I recommend you to set a goal right now. It should be a measurably
achievable goal, that is, you know when you have reached your goal. So, NOT Be fluent in
English; YES, Read two books and learn 200 new words in six weeks. The latter you will
clearly know when you have achieved it, especially because it is time-bound. Now, take a few
moments to think of a great goal, which will motivate you to push yourself.

My goal: ____________________________

I will reach this goal by: ____ /____ /____

There are two more crucial factors to success in reaching a goal. 1) Is accountability, and 2) is
risk of loss.

1. Its extremely important that someone else knows about your goal and hold you
responsible to reaching it. Its even better if you make it public (e.g. on Facebook or
YouTube) and post updates.
2. Having something negative happen if you dont reach your goal is BIG motivation. You
are much more likely to accomplish what you set out to do if you have something to
lose. You could combine these two points if you give money to a friend if you dont
reach your goal.
The following are a few more examples:
Eating nothing but sandwiches for a week if I dont practice English every day for a
month (from a student that hates sandwiches).
Paying my friend $20 every day that I dont read the news in English.
Not eating meat for a month if I dont reach my goal.

Now, answer the questions below:

Who will hold me accountable to my goal? (He or she should check in with you every couple of
days or every week):

_____________________________

What consequence will I have if I dont reach my goal?

_____________________________

Digging Deeper: If you want to learn more about setting clear goals and accountability, I
highly recommend the advice in this podcast interview. And heres a terrific podcast you dont
want to miss on the power of community for achieving big goals.

V. Planning & Setting Up Your Life

You do need to be dedicated to your learning, but that doesnt mean that it has to be stressful. One thing
we teach here at RealLife English is that with the right tools and good learning routine, you can make
your journey to fluency fun and simple.

What does a good routine look like?

The best routine will take advantage of your free time AND time where youre not really doing anything,
like riding in the bus, driving your car, or waiting in line.

So right now I want you to take a moment to reflect on your average daily routine by answering some
questions:

When do you wake up in the morning?

I wake up at ____________________ most days.

Would it be possible for you to wake up earlier? How much earlier (even 15 minutes can make a big
difference)?

__________________________________________________.

How do you go to work/school every day? How long does it take?

__________________________________________________. It takes ____________________.

How much free time do you generally have per week?

About _____________ hours/week.

Name at least 3 things you like to do in your free time:

1) __________________________________________________.

2) __________________________________________________.

3) __________________________________________________.

Do you do any of the following activities? (Mark an x next to any that you do).
___ Run
___ Workout/other type of exercise
___ Go to the store/bank/other sorts of errands
___ Cook
___ Clean
___ Walk the dog

Now that youve reflected and gotten a better idea of what the time spent in your week looks like, I want
to invite you to read a couple articles about language learners routines, Ethan (from RealLife English)
and Olly (from I Will Teach You a Language).

While reading, try to imagine how you could take advantage of the time you jotted down above to add in
hours of extra learning. After reading, you have a space to write down your new English learning routine
below:

TIME: ACTIVITY:

____ __________________________________________________

____ __________________________________________________

____ __________________________________________________

____ __________________________________________________

____ __________________________________________________

____ __________________________________________________

____ __________________________________________________

____ __________________________________________________
Digging Deeper: If you want to learn more about shaping your life for success, The Power of Habit is an
excellent book on the science of habit creation, here is a summary. Next, this podcast interview will show
you how you are standing in your own way on your path to fluency.

Whats next?

After reading this, what new discoveries have you made about yourself? How could you better take
advantage of your time to increase your exposure to English? What other goals could you make for
yourself? And more importantly, how can you make it all manageable so that you dont get overwhelmed
and lose motivation?

Below, take a few minutes to write out a plan for the next month. Focus on just ONE new habit that will
lead to your big goal (more than one can be overwhelming and cause us to give up):

In the next few weeks I will

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

From all of us at RealLife English, we hope this guide has opened your mind to some new ideas and
motivated you to make some changes that will help you make big strides in your fluency in the coming
months.

Dont be shy! Have any questions for us? Want to share your goals and new habits that you plan to
create? Wed love to hear from you.

Write us at: fluencyteam@reallifeglobal.com

We look forward to hearing from you! Aww yeah!!