Tuesday's Tip for Language Learning: Mental Management


 


Excerpt from Think Yourself into Becoming a Language Learning Super Star


Mental Management

 

What is a goal without a plan? A dream?

Mental management techniques work at turning dreams into reality by requiring the setting of goals and establishing a clear and comprehensive (and do-able) plan. In his book, With Winning in Mind (2011, The Mentashowinl Management System), Lanny Bassham discusses the importance of setting goals and tracking progress. The right—and positive—mental attitude can definitely assist a person in accomplishing his or her goals.

 

Defining mental management

Mental management is the process of being able to improve your progress or show your prowess  while under stress. Have you ever been under stress in a language course? Of course, you have!

If any of these following circumstances apply, you could benefit from training in mental management:

·        You draw a blank on a test even though you know the material well;

·        You have trouble sleeping the night before a big exam;

·        You are so nervous during class that you cannot learn new things because you are afraid that the teacher is going to call on you at any minute;

·        You have much trouble remembering the content of your assignments because you are spending time worrying about what the results of your work on your assignments will be; and/or

·        You feel nauseous during class because you are having trouble keeping up with your classmates.

 

stress during performance = need for mental management

 

Developing good mental management

If any of the conditions above describe you, time to develop some good mental management. Good mental management will get you though many difficult activities and help you improve your language performance.

Here are some ways to develop good mental management:

·        Control your conscious thought: don’t be distracted, focus on your goal, visualize you using your language well at an important event (this has the additional value of improving your self-image)—if you can visualize it, you can become it;

·        Plan how you will achieve each step of your goal and visualize those steps; and/or

·        Monitor your level of stress, keeping in mind that moderate amounts of stress release adrenaline which an actually improve performance by focusing your attention and giving you better endurance.

planning + monitoring + visualization = control

 

Take charge of your thoughts!

See more posts about/from this book.

See more posts about language learning.

                                Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter

                          Follow MSI Press on Twitter, Face Book, and Instagram.


 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In Memoriam: Carl Don Leaver

Image
  1948-2021 It is with great sadness that MSI Press notes the death of Carl Leaver, CEO of the Press and typesetter and graphic designer par excellence . Many authors have expressed not only condolences but also a sense of legacy from covers he designed that they love.  Here is his obituary: On August 16, 2021, Carl Don Leaver of San Juan Bautista passed into eternal rest. A forester with the US Forest Service in Idaho and Montana, he turned to nature photography while working in the Bitterroot National Forest. His photographs graced national magazine covers and on a weekly basis the local paper of Hamilton, MT, the Ravalli Republican. He later worked on photography projects for the US Army (AFEES) and taught photography at the New York Institute of Technology in Amman, Jordan. His final career change led him to computer graphics and publishing as co-owner of MSI Press LLC; his many typeset books and book covers have helped MSI Press authors win a large number of awards over the years,
Read more

A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: Book Marketing vs Book Promotion

Image
It is Tuesday. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side.  Today's post looks at the difference between book marketing and book promotion, two terms that are frequently confused. Leading to the confusion is that some of the same activities are needed for both. In fact, good marketing is dependent upon good promotion. Perhaps the essential difference is that marketing focuses on sales, and promotion focuses on awareness --  noting that without awareness, sales generally do not happen. Book Marketing Book marketing includes promotion, sales, and increasing awareness of the availability of the book. It generally starts with a marketing plan that identifies the target audiences and selects marketing t
Read more