You like that lame, Buzzfeedy title? Yeah. You know you do.

Based on that title, you may be thinking that you’re about to read an answer to the question of “which language should I learn (in order to maximize socioeconomic returns)?”. And, if that’s what you’re thinking, you would be wrong.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

Stick with me.

So, as you may or may not know, I don’t read or watch the news. I quit in 2005 and haven’t looked back. Even Jon Stewart admitted it — following the news, especially the political material of which it mostly consists, just makes you sad and angry. But I do still know “stuff” from back then. And I still have thoughts. And I still read books. In fact, not watching or reading the news gives you space to have more “big picture” thoughts.

And one of the thoughts is this — why is the US military, easily the most powerful in the known history of the world, so frequently unable to win decisive victories and unambiguously impose its nation’s will on the vanquished?

That is a question I will not answer today, the “answer”, such as there is one, doesn’t really matter. It’s like asking why the Roman Empire fell — it’s as interesting as all get-out, and I own copies of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and SPQR in multiple languages (Chinese, Japanese, English) — but the process of researching and weighing and thinking through answers matters more than the final answer. The journey is the destination.

What’s the best part of making out? All of it, really. Lol.

So, why are these big ideas relevant to little people like you and me? Because we are the US military. We are in the possession of the most powerful machine in the known Universe — the human mind. And we got ours for free. No pork barrel spending. No defense contractor corruption. For free, playa! Unbelievable, isn’t it? And it runs on groceries! ¹.

Just like Jhene Aiko’s booty.

Wait, what?

Our brains — our minds ² — and the world’s strongest military are both powerful, but neither is omnipotent. So it simply won’t do to behave like a lottery winner ³. Being strong, smart or otherwise “full of potential” does not exempt you from the laws of our mathematical universe. If anything, it holds you to a higher standard of behavior — pedestrians can walk and use their smartphones with relative impunity, but the laws of the land and of physics will mercilessly punish the driver of a car for doing the same. With great power comes, unfortunately, great Spider-Man quotes.

So, there’s a lot of discussion out there about America’s military paradox — unprecedented power mixed with shocking ineffectiveness. ⁴ Much of it silly, some of it insightful. One recurring key phrase, though, really hit me in the nuts. And it is this:

“limited objectives”

The US military has tended to do well when it has had limited objectives ⁵, based on “clearly articulated and achievable goals“.

You and the US armed forces are limited. No person or group of people has infinite time, money, energy or other resources. This is not a bad thing, it is a good thing, because the limitations, if you know how to use them to your advantage (instead of whining about them and wishing they weren’t there), actually set you free ⁶. If you want to succeed, you must use your resources judiciously. You must learn to say “no” pre-emptively. You must timebox.

Say “no” to languages other than the one you want to focus on. Yes, other languages are “useful”. Yes, seeming multilingual will impress strangers you don’t even like. But if you want to win hard at anything — at any language at all — you’re going to have to concentrate your forces. That, or, you can go be like Germany and fight on two fronts like an idiot. Your call.

Trying to Bo Jackson it will not make you twice as happy. Two languages doesn’t double the happiness. Three doesn’t treble it. I’m not saying to go monolingual, but I am saying that, pound of pound, joule for joule of effort, depth is probably more rewarding than depth. Just puttin’ that out there. Limited objectives. Limit your objectives. Say “no”.

Say “no” to trying to do more than you have energy to do.

Say “no” to ideas and feelings and actions that do not help you reach your goal.

Say “no” to trying to do and achieve everything all at once, really fast.

Do the little you can, with the little you have, a little at a time, on the little that matters and you will, paradoxically, achieve much.

Concentrate your forces. Don’t clean the whole house ⁷. Divide and conquer. Make your bed. Win that battle. Then move on to another (small) battlefield. Your desk, perhaps. Don’t clean the whole fridge. Cleaning the whole fridge is not a limited objective — you will choke on something that big; you will get sucked into a personal quagmire. No. Pick one shelf. One. ⁸ Fight there. Clean there. Win there. Then, with decisive victory secured, move on again. Rinse, repeat. The principle applies widely if you let it.

Even in a field as apparently vast and infinite as language acquisition, playing it as a longish series of short, winnable games with, again, limited objectives, turns out to be a winning strategy.