Happy Tuesday, and greetings from Medellín, Colombia!

I’m here for the summer to improve my Spanish before I spend my Fall semester in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

I started learning Spanish through a Lingoda Super Sprint, which requires you to attend a class (and only one class) every day for 60 days. You’ll get 100% of your money back in return for successfully adhering to this rule.

(I managed to adhere to the rules even throughout finals, but I had to miss a class at the last minute because my medical appointment in India got delayed 💸)

These two actions—attending Lingoda classes and living in Colombia—were forcing functions I created to improve my Spanish: I’m forced to work towards my goal because I have something at stake.

Features of an effective forcing function

💸 Stakes-based accountability

This is one of the most effective accountability mechanisms because you’ll be reminded of the pain you will feel from losing your stake. The pain is often enough to propel people to take action.

However, if the stakes are too high, you can feel apprehensive about your pursuit or stop working towards it altogether. After all, if losing your bet is going to cause your financial ruin, why would you place the bet at all?

Thus, for an effective forcing function, choose a stake that is consequential and painful, but is also one that you can afford to lose.

📅 Requiring consistency instead of motivation

Lingoda’s Super Sprint requires me to show up consistently: As long as I attend my Spanish class daily, I will get all my money back.

On the other hand, improving my Spanish during my time in Colombia doesn’t necessarily require consistency. I can choose to visit touristy places only—places where I can conveniently speak English. As a result, I can get away with only practicing my Spanish when I feel like it.

Motivation is necessary to get you started, but consistency and discipline are more helpful in keeping you going.

A note on side effects

When using my forcing functions, I experienced two side effects:

😵‍💫 Overwhelm. I clammed up on my first day in Colombia whenever a local tried to converse with me in Spanish. When I got home, I also started panicking about how I’m going to survive the next four months with so little knowledge of Spanish.

To combat the overwhelm, I decided to take things one step at a time: feed myself, do my internship tasks, sign up for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu classes, and then explore the city.

✈️ Slipping into Autopilot Mode. During finals, I went through the motions of attending my Lingoda classes: I stopped preparing for each class and didn’t review the class content or my Lingoda instructors’ feedback.

Autopilot Mode helped me juggle Lingoda classes and finals, but I also learned less from my Spanish classes during that period. Now that I have the time again, however, I’ll carve out time to review the material I glossed over.

A forcing function is just one of the many tactics you can use to achieve your goals. They’re effective, but they can also be uncomfortable if the difficulty level or stakes are too high.

Don’t let discomfort stop you from trying. If the forcing function is overwhelming, adjust it:

• work on a smaller goal/milestone/project first
• reduce the frequency slightly
• focus on showing up consistently, not how much you’ve achieved in a particular instance

With that, I’ll leave you with a canvas print from my home for the summer:

Also, if you’re interested in learning a new language, I highly recommend Lingoda.

You’re forced to speak every class, which is the practice you need to pick up the language! Use my referral link to get $50 off your first purchase.