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Out of all the things you've learned in your life, what was the hardest thing you've ever learned or are still learning?
I don't refer to soft skills like communication skills and vague lessons like "I learned how to be confident" but rather specific, hard skills that you've found or are still finding extremely difficult to master. Could be anything and doesn't have to be business-related: it could be BJJ, programming, painting, speaking Japanese, dancing, or flying a helicopter.
For example, for me, the hardest thing I'm still learning is an American accent. As a non-native English speaker, it's been my dream to speak like a native. I hate having a foreign accent and want to be 100% bilingual. I've been studying the accent and working with various coaches for years. I've been working on it very seriously for the past three years with a private coach (who's not a native English speaker either and now speaks perfect American English and works as an actor) and am yet to master it.
I find it extremely difficult to change my deeply ingrained speech patterns, stay aware enough to spot and fix any mistakes the moment I make them, and basically create a new voice for myself in a language with a very, very different melody and way of communicating.
Ever since I was a kid, I also believed that I had a terrible ear. Now I'm supposed to hear the tiniest differences between sounds and be able to switch from one to another using very tiny tweaks in my tongue or mouth position (or perform other adjustments that can often only be done through visualization as I can't control every muscle in my mouth).
The process has been extremely frustrating and has repeatedly made me doubt whether I can ever master it. I know I can but I'm not sure how much longer it'll take as I'm still struggling a lot during each session (and I usually have 3 sessions a week and practice in between as well). So far, my biggest accomplishment is that people can no longer identify where I'm from (though they can tell I'm not a native English speaker).
As a second question, what is the most impactful skill you've ever learned? I'm referring yet again to hard skills only that have had the most powerful impact on your life.
For me, as a non-native English speaker, nothing comes close to learning how to speak English. I can't even imagine my life without it. I owe everything in my life to English: my business, my education, my worldview, and so much more. My life wouldn't even be 1% of what it is if I had no ability to speak English.
I keep repeating it often but native English speakers take this for granted while it's a huge superpower that's not available to many people, terribly limiting their lives. In a way, non-native English speakers start with negative points in life and need to work hard just to get to the level native English speakers have by default (and rarely, if ever, acknowledge how blessed they are).
I'm curious about your skills. Which ones were the hardest to learn and which ones were the most impactful for you?
I don't refer to soft skills like communication skills and vague lessons like "I learned how to be confident" but rather specific, hard skills that you've found or are still finding extremely difficult to master. Could be anything and doesn't have to be business-related: it could be BJJ, programming, painting, speaking Japanese, dancing, or flying a helicopter.
For example, for me, the hardest thing I'm still learning is an American accent. As a non-native English speaker, it's been my dream to speak like a native. I hate having a foreign accent and want to be 100% bilingual. I've been studying the accent and working with various coaches for years. I've been working on it very seriously for the past three years with a private coach (who's not a native English speaker either and now speaks perfect American English and works as an actor) and am yet to master it.
I find it extremely difficult to change my deeply ingrained speech patterns, stay aware enough to spot and fix any mistakes the moment I make them, and basically create a new voice for myself in a language with a very, very different melody and way of communicating.
Ever since I was a kid, I also believed that I had a terrible ear. Now I'm supposed to hear the tiniest differences between sounds and be able to switch from one to another using very tiny tweaks in my tongue or mouth position (or perform other adjustments that can often only be done through visualization as I can't control every muscle in my mouth).
The process has been extremely frustrating and has repeatedly made me doubt whether I can ever master it. I know I can but I'm not sure how much longer it'll take as I'm still struggling a lot during each session (and I usually have 3 sessions a week and practice in between as well). So far, my biggest accomplishment is that people can no longer identify where I'm from (though they can tell I'm not a native English speaker).
As a second question, what is the most impactful skill you've ever learned? I'm referring yet again to hard skills only that have had the most powerful impact on your life.
For me, as a non-native English speaker, nothing comes close to learning how to speak English. I can't even imagine my life without it. I owe everything in my life to English: my business, my education, my worldview, and so much more. My life wouldn't even be 1% of what it is if I had no ability to speak English.
I keep repeating it often but native English speakers take this for granted while it's a huge superpower that's not available to many people, terribly limiting their lives. In a way, non-native English speakers start with negative points in life and need to work hard just to get to the level native English speakers have by default (and rarely, if ever, acknowledge how blessed they are).
I'm curious about your skills. Which ones were the hardest to learn and which ones were the most impactful for you?
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