My secret to overcome perfectionism

Recording the podcast “Italian Time Zone - learn Italian with history”

Today I'll let you in on a secret. Or rather two.

The first is that I have always been a perfectionist.

I have always wanted to do things to the best of my ability and I have always been very critical of myself when I was not able to.

So self-critical that I often did NOT do things in order not to do them poorly. For example, I would not speak in class so as not to give a wrong answer or for fear of making mistakes.

But as I grew older, I realised that this made me miss a tons of opportunities and blocked my creativity.

So I decided to challenge myself and started a podcast.



And this is my second secret: my podcast helps me fight my perfectionism.



Recording the perfect episode is impossible. There will always be mistakes or things I would have said differently.

But once I write, record and fix the audio.... That's it, it's done. I don't change anything anymore.

The working hours are so many (5 or 6 per episode) that I can't afford to do everything all over again.

So I publish the episode.

And once it is published, it can no longer be edited. It stays there forever, with all its mistakes and flaws.

This is my therapy.

I don't focus on perfection but on the benefit the podcast brings to the listener.

To you, who listen to me and explore Italian history with me and learn new things for your culture and your Italian.

This is wonderful.

This is a thousand times more important than a mistake in the podcast.

How can this help YOUR Italian?

The moment you stop worrying about making mistakes or sounding ridiculous when speaking Italian, it’s when the magic happens.

You start practicing on your own, recording or writing comments about a podcast episodes or a movie.

You then become more confident and you decide to join a safe space where you can practice your Italian regularly with a teacher and /or some fellows learners.

You realize how your self-esteem is growing, you can now think in Italian more smoothly, and you are so brave that you want to speak in Italian as soon as you have the chance!

This exact thing happened to Lidia, a student of mine who was brave enough to overcome her perfectionism and join the Italian in Your Hands course - and allow me to share her text messages as testimonials!

Try.

Don’t let your perfectionism block your thoughts and your creativity in Italian.

***

Are you a perfectionist when it comes to language learning?

Would you rather shut up than make a mistake or would you just give it a go?

If you are like me, how are you “fighting” it?

I’d love to hear what you think.

Share your thoughts in the comments!

Un caro saluto,

Giulia.