I was looking around in the barn last week.
A barn is a building where animals live.
Except here, the animals moved out long ago, and the junk moved in.
(UPDATE: I’m still in the U.S. My Christmas visit is now in its third month. But I’ll be back on the road very soon…)
There’s a pile of exercise equipment… drawing tablets… books… educational programs…
The rowing machine… the paint brushes… the weight loss tapes….
They all tell a story.
That story is, “I’m going to improve my life and start something new.”
But these stories all have sad endings.
Because if you look closely, you’ll see the equipment was hardly used, the books barely read, and the tapes never finished.
All started, none finished.
But that’s nothing new.
I see the same story with English all the time.
Someone tells me they tried to improve many times.
Each start is followed by a stop.
Start. Stop. Start. Stop.
For years and years that goes on, and the progress is, well, not good.
A few years ago I discovered something…
HOW you start can determine if you’re successful or not.
Start the wrong way and you’ll fail.
Start the right way and failure is impossible and success is guaranteed.