99% of my clients are not native speakers of English.
(Fun fact: Did you know that, by far, most speakers of English are not native speakers of English?)
And, quite dependably, every single one of those clients asks at some point, “How is my English,” or some other question that shows that they are comparing themselves to someone else, most often a friend, a spouse, or a coworker.
That is completely the wrong question to be asking. Don’t waste any time on that one. Comparison to others only leads to heartbreak and irrelevant navel-gazing.
The right questions to be asking are:
- Why am I here?
- Am I making progress against whatever that is?
Every single person is going to have a different answer to question #1. Some people want to raise money for their startup. Some people want to get a large project approved by buyers in another country. Some people want to make a major career move. Some people really like to learn phrases like “to chase the dragon,” and that learning answers some need that only they truly understand (and if you recognize my reference to that phrase, you are correct, our conversation the other day is what prompted this post).
Every single person is going to answer question #1 (why am I here) differently. And if the answer to question #2 is “yes,” you are in the right place and you are doing exactly what you need to be doing.
