The route to achieving big goals naturally involves making mistakes and lots of learning. Even the best planners come across situations they’d never thought of before. The most experienced entrepreneurs have had to overcome self-doubt and the fear of taking risks. Wherever you are in your journey right now, I’m sure that there are things that hold you back from making big progress. That’s why I hope this blog helps you gain some insight into the 6 mistakes that stop your professional growth! 

1. Self-doubt & Limiting beliefs

If you focus on the bad, you can’t take advantage of the good. 

Thoughts such as ‘I can’t do it’, ‘I’m not good enough’, ‘people don’t understand my accent’ could be an indication of your fear of making mistakes. It might also be a sign that you’re scared of people judging you. 

We often focus on what we don’t know, don’t understand or think we ‘need or ‘should know.’  but this means we never take the opportunity to practise despite all the things we don’t know lots about or feel comfortable with. And of course, if you don’t practise, you can’t learn, nor can you know how to improve. This negative approach distracts you from using the knowledge you have now to get some practice! 

Learning English to teach yoga has specific needs and requires a new approach: concentrate on learning the information and knowledge you need for it. And to get this new knowledge, use the knowledge you already have now in the present moment and use it to learn more. For example, if you don’t know the word ‘mat’ you can ask your teacher: ‘What do you call the long thing that we put on the floor to practise yoga on?’ 

Here, you use all the vocabulary and structures you already know to learn something new. 

‘Celebrate your wins’

Look at how far you’ve come and what you’ve learned – that fact that you’re reading this says that you know a lot already and at least are trying to become better!

So, reflect on what you already know, what you’re good at and praise yourself for all of the effort you’ve made so far. I’m very sure that you can think of at least 1 or 2 little successes you’re proud of! 

2. Having unrealistic plans, goals or expectations

Our expectations of ourselves are extremely high – we compare ourselves to others and often get competitive! . But when you focus on the things you can’t do or aren’t good at, you forget to look at your own qualities and talents and  it can make you feel down. 

Losing sight of what you’re good at may result in giving up on your goals or plans because your plans take too long, your goals are too difficult, or your expectations involve too much pressure. But actually the root problem is that they’re simply unrealistic.

Having a big goal in mind is great, but that should be your end goal. Before then, plan a path leading up to it, containing lots of step by step mini-goals. Create milestones and set deadlines to achieve them on your way to your bigger goals. Celebrate all the little successes, all the little wins, and keep track of your progress to remind yourself of how far you’ve come! 

Unrealistic goals often have a reason, and the reason brings me to mistake 3. 

3. Not knowing your purpose or not knowing the reasons ‘why’

When I teach general English classes, most students start by saying they want to get an exam or certificate. And my question is always ‘why?’ Are you applying for a job or university? Do you need this, or do you just think you need it because everyone else is doing it? Is it because, without that bit of paper, your learning doesn’t exist? 

What you learn in exams is not what you need in your normal life; it simply shows that you can memorise, follow a format, and have exam technique. How much of that is the English you will use as a yoga teacher?  

This is why I focus on English learning designed especially for yoga teachers. This means you learn English with a clear purpose. The language you need for teaching yoga is very specific and isn’t something you find in a normal exam textbook.

When you’re practising language for cueing asana, you’re clear on why you’re learning it: it’s relevant to your life now. It isn’t just an examiner’s box you want to tick. 

As a yogi, you probably want to be as present as possible, live in the moment and focus on everything that is happening now. But as a teacher and human, in our modern society, you need to plan ahead. You need to make a living, care for your loved ones and take care of yourself. 

We need to look at the bigger picture. Knowing the reason ‘why’ you want or do something is a priority. Without knowing the reason why, you can’t understand your objectives. Therefore you can’t plan how to reach them or measure your progress. The result is that you lose motivation, which understandably stops you achieving your goals.

Start exploring your reasons why…

…your purpose and your intentions for  your learning journey! After reading this, go to your Continuing Education Membership and download the worksheet.

4. Trying to figure it out by yourself

Often at school we are encouraged to work alone and to do everything ourselves. But how else would we learn if we didn’t look to others? Even learning from a book is learning from someone else. 

If there’s one thing I’ve learned this last year, it’s that we need other people around us in order to grow. We need to be in contact with people to learn from, be inspired by, to help us, to reflect, and guide us. We need people you can rely on and who positively influence your life. Together you’re so much stronger than you are alone, if you are around the right people. 

Think of all the successful people you know and think of the people that have helped them – we’re social beings and need each other to lean on.

Using google translate, finding exercises online, and watching videos without human assistance will only get you so far. But they’re time consuming and often of bad quality. Only through contact with a person can you get feedback, speak and think spontaneously or be corrected. 

For example, when developing language and teaching skills, you can ask for explanations, clarifications and different types of support. Support could mean recommendations of other books, materials, documentaries or learning techniques. Learning with others can help you with pronunciation, understanding and human interaction, all of which are essential in teaching yoga. Learning language alone postpones your growth and, with no opportunity for real life practice, it causes a lot of frustration.

So, ask yourself: in what areas of my professional development could I use more support from other people

Is it in learning, business development, teaching techniques, or finding students? Again, get clear on your purpose so that you can understand what kind of help you need. I promise that receiving help makes a big difference and can give you a great sense of relief!  

5. Postponing your plans and waiting for a better time

Do you know the expression ‘time is money’? 

And I also want to ask you this: ‘what is the cost of not investing now?’

How many classes do you need to teach in your own language to make a living? How many classes would you have to teach if you could teach in English? And how many more students could you have? Postponing your plans to  teach yoga in English could have a really high price. The longer you don’t take the opportunity, the longer you’ll: 

❌ Keep declining international job offers because you think you can’t speak English well enough

❌ Miss out on collaboration opportunities because you don’t have the vocabulary or speaking skills to communicate

❌ Lose engagement online because you can’t express exactly what you want to say

❌ Keep committing the first mistake of this training: Doubt your teaching skills because of your language and communication abilities or simply think that your accent makes you a less effective communicator/teacher?

❌ Spend time trying to educate yourself, getting frustrated, giving up, losing momentum, starting over again and hit the same wall over and over.

6. Not investing time in skills, knowledge and education

The value of education is so underestimated. Education is an investment which always pays back. Skills, knowledge and the opportunity to put these skills and knowledge into action are key. And when you can put these skills and knowledge into action, you can expand your services. For you, those could be your classes, your workshops or retreats. 

Good education isn’t hard to find these days. On the internet you can find great teachers and, even better, teachers that aren’t normally accessible or available to you because of distance. 

Think of all the investments you’ve made so far to get where you are now. They aren’t always big ones, like living or working abroad, although they are obviously very beneficial to your development. What about the small ones you can do now? Like taking half an hour to revise that vocabulary? Or taking an hour or two a week to attend a language exchange or yoga class in English? The best investment is education because, no matter how small it is, it always pays back. 

Do any of these 6 mistakes stop your professional growth?

And what have you tried doing in order to defeat them? 

Go to the Continuing Education Membership to download your worksheet and start working on your professional growth.

Book your free discovery call with Annie here and find out what you can do to overcome them!