And no, it’s not a “conspiracy theory.”

It’s a fact of human life.

The world—and here I mean the people and environments we interact with daily—won’t reorganize itself to help you with anything, whether it’s getting a raise, losing weight, or learning another language.

As obvious as this may seem, if we analyze our choices and habits, we often don’t consider it.

We don’t consider that to develop a skill we’ve never had, we need to do things we’ve never done.

And that’s the point: why does this process seem so difficult?

Because there is one word that governs our lives.

Homeostasis.

By the Cambridge Dictionary definition, it is “the ability or tendency of a living organism, cell, or group to keep the conditions inside it the same, despite any changes in the conditions around it.”

Biologically, we are programmed to survive, not to get promotions at work, travel the world, or learn different languages.

It works like this:

Staying where and how you are = fewer risks = higher chance of survival = success.

However, a life well-lived is not one where we merely survive.

It is one where we improve ourselves, conquer our fears, and thrive.

When you set “learning another language” as a goal, you disrupt homeostasis.

This applies to any new habit but especially to language learning.

To learn languages, you need to spend as much time as possible with them.

This requires direction, organization, and above all, prioritization.

Direction → To know what to do in the language.
Organization → So that exposure to it occurs effortlessly.
Prioritization → To ignore everything that doesn’t help you in this process.

It’s not enough just to want to learn English; you need to know clearly what to do.

It’s not enough just to know what to do; you need to organize yourself to do it every day.

And to do it every day, you need to place it above many things in your life.

Take my story as an example.

I didn’t have a typical Brazilian childhood and adolescence, filled with samba, pagode, Brazilian funk, sertanejo, watching YouTubers like Whindersson Nunes, Felipe Neto, Brazilian soap operas, movies, etc.

I had a more Americanized experience, filled with American hip hop, rock, grunge, metal, indie, pop punk, jazz, folk, YouTubers like Jacksfilms and Tobuscus, comedians such as Dane Cook and Katt Williams, cartoons like The Boondocks, etc.

I didn’t do it because I believed the ignorant cliché that everything American is better.

I did it simply because I liked and identified with it more.

In other words, I didn’t force exposure to the language because I desperately wanted to learn it.

I simply found a way to enjoy it by adapting it to my interests.

That’s what made me know so much about American culture and the English language.

Being in this “world,” where the entertainment I watched, the music I listened to, and the people I interacted with were mostly American.

But if I was in this “world,” it was because I ignored the external and consciously built another one.

As the French saying goes: choisir c’est renoncer (to choose is to renounce).

And that’s my point in writing this.

It’s to make you think about what constitutes your current world and in which direction you are going.

The influencers you follow, the artists you listen to, the politicians you like, etc. don’t care if they are helping you with your goals or not.

What matters is that they have your attention.

And I don’t blame them.

They have bills to pay, families to support, and employees who depend on them.

However, as Tony Robbins said: where attention goes, energy flows.

Our life is the materialization of where we have continuously chosen to put our attention on until now.

The problem is, since we live on autopilot, we don’t notice if we’re putting it in the right places.

Therefore, thinking in the following way will be useful:

If your choices and habits were those of another person and you could analyze them, what would be the conclusion?

If an overweight person chooses to exercise and cut sugar out, we can conclude they’ll lose weight.

If a former alcoholic starts hanging out with addicted friends again, we can conclude they’ll relapse.

Now, thinking about your routine, what would be the conclusion?

That you will soon be fluent in another language?

Or that you’ll have another frustrated attempt at learning?

Analyze everything that constitutes your personal world.

Your social media feeds, the messages you get and the channels you watch won’t magically change to another language to help you.

Nor will your friends and family.

I don’t write this to advocate for some sort of social isolation to learn another language.

I do it to remind you that learning can only take place with intention.

If your intention is to learn another language, build a world that leads you to it.

Create another social media profile and only follow people who speak it (use keywords in the language to find them).

Only listen to music in that language and follow along with the lyrics.

Always look up the meanings of what you don’t understand.

When you can’t understand it, trust that you will in the future.

Consume various types of entertainment in the language until you find one you enjoy the most.

Make friends with native speakers.

I’m not talking about “Hi, how r u? Fine, u? Fine too thx.”

I mean genuinely caring about the person, their family, and their story.

Send voice messages saying whatever you can.

Make video calls.

Truly live the language.

I know just reading this might make you feel uncomfortable and even think, “No way I’m doing that, nuh uh, it’s so embarrassing…”

But remember: learning a new skill is breaking homeostasis.

Sooner or later, discomfort will come.

And if there is discomfort, it means you’re making an effort to evolve.

This is not just “studying.”

It is building a world that will lead you to fluency.

It is actively changing your life.

Creating your own destiny.

This is what I’ve been doing for over a decade.

It’s not talent, a gift, or high IQ.

It’s direction, organization, and prioritization.

No one can do it for you.

Only you.

Don’t wait any longer.