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The Pending Subject: How to model (copy) success so you get the same results

Published 2 months ago • 4 min read

Welcome to

The Pending Subject Newsletter

Every Thursday you will receive:

  • English language content to keep you in touch with the language
  • Tips to improve your English
  • A weekly challenge to keep you progressing
  • A quote to inspire your learning

The word model usually makes us picture beautiful men or women in a TV ad or on a catwalk. That is one meaning. Another definition of model is to take a system and copy it. Model in this sense means to study the mental and physical procedures that make people successful at what they do and to imitate them. In some way, that is what all successful people do, and if you want to be successful at perfecting your English, you can use modelling too.

The best athletes, musicians, singers, actors, and businesses all use modelling. Once someone discovers what made a song, movie, or product successful, it is possible to replicate their strategies and flourish, and usually in a lot less time.

Think of the sequence of most of your favourite songs: they begin with a verse, then a chorus, then another verse and chorus, then a bridge and then back to the chorus (check it out for yourself to see if it applies...).

The organigram of most companies is the same. Also, their advertising messages show a problem, then they show their product as the solution, and finally they show you the benefits of using their product... (watch an advertisement of any product and see how many follow this problem/solution/benefit model).

Tiger Woods learnt to swing a golf club by watching his father hit thousands of balls when he was a baby. His mother would sit him in a seat in their garage to feed him, all while his father hit balls into a net. The result? When he could walk, Tiger picked up a golf club and immediately copied (modelled) his father. He did this without anyone telling him what to do.

Film-makers use models. Most films present a problem/situation for the protagonist to overcome (beginning), and then as time goes on, this problem starts getting solved (middle), then the action reaches a logical, satisfying conclusion (end). Imagine if the problem didn't get solved. You would feel cheated. You would want to know what happened. So in this case, the model is vital to the success of the film.

So how can you use models to improve your English? You need to know what to look out for, and then you need to ask a lot of questions- to others and to yourself!

And of course, for further help, you can follow the tips and content below.

I hope you find them useful.

TIPS

  1. Think about who is the best speaker you know and ask them how they did it: It's amazing how many times I hear the following: in companies there are incredible sales people and everyone knows who they are. I ask people if they know their names. "Sure," they say. Then I ask if they have ever questioned them about their sales strategies so they could model them and sell more. "No," they say. What!!! I find this incredible every time I hear it. I don't understand why companies don't use their best people as coaches or modellers. The secret to success is finding someone who does it well and then modelling their systems. So, find a great English speaker and ask them how they became so good. They will be delighted to share their knowledge... And you will have the added advantage of gaining their wisdom in a few minutes, where it might have taken them years to find the right formula.
  2. There are many ways to produce results. There are no right or wrong ways. There are only effective and ineffective ways: The great speaker you talk to about their methods may use ones that are not effective for you. For example- maybe they wake up at 5am and exercise listening to music in English or a podcast. Then maybe they study some vocabulary from their listening. Then maybe they picture themselves successfully using that vocabulary. If you don't want to wake up at 5am, you can still model the behaviour but change the time of day. Or maybe you prefer to listen to an audiobook instead of music. You can adapt their model to do what works for you. But if it is not effective and you are not seeing results, you need to change.
  3. Research how polyglots learn and model their behaviours: Polyglots are language learning experts. To say they only have talent is to disrespect them because they have worked harder than any other language learner to develop their skills. Study them and you will find the trends that make them so great.
  4. Study experts in any field and see what you can apply to language learning (or anything you want to become better at): Success leaves clues. You can study the systems of greats in any area and apply some of their traits and habits to learning English. For example, if you have a fear of public speaking, you can read about how Nelson Mandela handled fear and apply what you learn, or you can read about how William Shakespeare had a stutter (tartamudeo) and what he did to overcome this and become an inspiring public speaker.
  5. Study what communication experts say and find trends: Another way to model success is to find trends from successful sources/people from the same field or different fields. When you see different people doing the same things, this is a pattern you can model and implement into your life. Plus, if may successful people are doing/did the same, then the chances are it is a very good strategy to copy.

CONTENT

  1. The best speaker you know, or your friends know, or in your company or team is your content... Find that speaker! Ask them about their systems and strategies for learning, then model them!
  2. You are your content! Keep analysing what works for you and make the necessary changes. Don't continue doing the same if it doesn't work. If your results are not improving, it's time to try something else.
  3. For an insight into how polyglots work, check out this video... then model what the speaker says...
  4. Find the experts that interest you and model them...
  5. Some communications experts I like are: Alison Wood Brooks. Matt Abrahams. Jefferson Fisher...

A CHALLENGE

Begin to model the people who are successful English speakers. Find out what they think, what they do, and then... copy them!

You just need to start...

(A great place to start is the 5-5-5 Progress Plan).

AN INSPIRING QUOTE

"Success leaves clues." Tony Robbins.

Find them, model them, repeat them!

You just need to start...

If you want to find out how you can improve your English communication skills, book a free call:

If you really want to learn English, you can also read the How to (finally) learn English book:

​https://lighthousetraininggroup.com/books/​

Out now on Amazon!

Find out more about us at https://lighthousetraininggroup.com/​

Ben

PS: Keep learning!

The 1%

By Ben Palmer

Hi! People often tell me about the difficulties they have to improve, personally and professionally.. So, every Thursday I write a free newsletter that you can read in less than 5 minutes, which is full of tips, content and more to help you progress 1% at a time! If you want to join the 1000+ subscribers, sign up below... I'd love to help you progress too! PS- I started the newsletter to help people learn English. Then people told me I could use the same techniques to help people learn in other areas of life too. So. I too progressed and created The 1% to try and help as many people as possible...

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