This article is not necessarily about learning Dutch. It’s about life (and learning) in general: our struggles, our fears…the things that stop us from reaching our goals. As a teacher, I see it as part of my job to address these topics too - maybe not directly in class, but through this blog, for those who feel called to explore them.
Do you sometimes feel stuck? Unmotivated? Like you’re putting in the effort but not really making progress? Are you very familiar with fear of failure (which goes hand in hand with perfectionism)?
In life (and when learning a language), we often get sidetracked, delayed, or blocked by negative beliefs, programs, or fears we still carry. Sometimes they show up as fear. Other times, they show up as what I call a firewall. The good news? Once you become aware of them, you can also remove them!
The Five Most Common Firewalls
Unlike a fear, which is more an emotional response, a firewall is like an energetic block that expresses itself as a repeated sentence, thought, or belief. Over the years, I’ve noticed that many language learners get stuck behind one of these common firewalls:
- It’s too difficult.
- I don’t have time.
- It’s too much work.
- I can’t do it.
- It’s boring.
Do any of these sound familiar?
These thoughts can seem harmless, but they often operate in the background and influence our actions more than we realize. They become invisible barriers between us and our goals.
The Firewall Processing Exercise
Firewalls often express themselves through absolute statements. Listen for words like ‘always’, ‘never’, ‘I can’t’, ‘too’, or ‘impossible’. Once you recognize your firewall, the next step is learning how to process it.
One of my favorite teachers, Inelia Benz, shares a simple exercise for identifying and releasing these blocks. At the end of this article you’ll find the audio, along with others for dealing with fear and stress. The firewall processing exercise goes something like this:
Close your eyes and think of the belief/thought/sentence that is holding you back.
Say it out loud.
Notice where you feel it in your body or energy field. It may feel like tension, pressure, discomfort, tingling, or simply a knowing that it's there. Some people see it visually; others feel it emotionally or physically.
Now, give it a shape, form, flavor, or color. Perhaps it looks like a metal bar, a shield, a wall, a knot, something else entirely, or you simply feel or know it’s there.
Once you have a clear sense of it, simply observe it. Be with it. You may receive thoughts, images, memories, or feelings. Or you may receive nothing at all. Both are fine. Just sit with it and observe it. Don’t look at it to try to get rid of it. Just look at it with curiosity and without judgment. You allow it to exist and to be there.
Then ask yourself:
Am I ready to release this block?
You may not get a full "yes" immediately. Sometimes you need a little more time with it. Sometimes you begin to see that the belief isn't actually true. Sometimes you are not quite ready yet, or you need a little more time to sit with it.
When you feel ready, imagine taking the firewall out of your field. You can gently pull it out, hold it in your hands, look at it, and notice how you feel without it. You might even feel tempted to put it back on.
If you're ready, you release it back to Source.
That's it.
And if it comes back later, don't worry. Just repeat the exercise.
How About Fears?
Besides these firewalls, we usually carry many fears as well. In language learning, the fear of failure is often one of the biggest. Afraid to fail. Afraid of what the teacher or other students think of them. Afraid that you will never be able to properly speak Dutch. You’ll find an exercise below to process those as well.
Did you know that fears are absolutely not necessary and they don’t serve any purpose besides making you more disempowered and disabled? If you want to learn more about that, I wrote a separate article about fears and why the idea that we need them in our lives is not true.
A Final Thought
My aim with this article is to empower you on your language-learning journey and to offer you hands-on tools for working through the hidden fears and blocks you may still be carrying.
Learning a language is not only about vocabulary and grammar. It’s also about confidence, self-belief, and being willing and choosing to move beyond the stories that tell you that you can’t.
The Exercises
Here you can find and download the exercises for free. Just follow the steps exactly as taught.
- The Fear Processing Exercise
- The Stress Relief Exercise
- The Firewall Processing Exercise
The fear processing exercise and the stress relief exercise are basically the same technique, just different wording that might resonate more with you (sometimes stress seems more accessible than fear).
If you try the exercises, let me know how it goes. I’m happy to talk more about it with you. Much love!