Human mentality is wild.

Many of us, including myself, harbor great ambitions of becoming experts in particular fields at some point in our lives. However, we often hesitate to engage in what is termed as ‘formal learning/training’. This is primarily because it’s perceived as overly rigorous and demands significant intellectual or physical effort. A direct consequence of this ‘avoidance psychology’ is that we either lag behind our peers and competitors or our skills simply stagnate.

A prime example is the journey to becoming an international grandmaster in chess. It requires a thorough understanding of chess theory, encompassing openings, middle games, and endgames. Yet, I often find myself more inclined to play practical games than to delve into the theoretical foundations. I’m fully aware that this approach is flawed and will be detrimental in the long run. I remind myself every day to change this habit. 🙏🙏🙏

The same principle applies to IELTS prep. I guess that there are many peeps out there who want to get an 8+ in IELTS. But guess what, instead of spending time on solidifying English fundamnetals (pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar), they’d rather do as many practice tests as possible while barely learning from mistakes, looking up unknown words or fixing mispronunciations. If you treat IELTS like a sport, when do you think you’ll get to the level of a professional athlete let alone an international legend like Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi?

As the saying goes, “The journey towards mastery is a marathon, not a sprint!”