Stick to

Stick to

Today’s English expression is “stick to.” When you stick to something, you continue doing that thing without changing. Earlier in this lesson, I asked a question. I said, can’t we all just agree on a working schedule and stick to it?

I was asking, can’t we all just agree on a working schedule and follow that working schedule without changing it? If we stick to a schedule, we follow it without change. Wouldn’t that make life so much easier? Just work from 8 to 5 or 10 to 6 or noon to 8 or 7 to 3 or whatever your schedule is established to be. Just make a schedule and stick to it. Sounds easy.

Maybe it would be easy for you, but it would be hard for me to stick to just one work schedule. However, I have recently made a change in my life that involves sticking to a set schedule. I’ve long been a gymgoer. I exercise multiple days a week. Before, I would choose those days depending on what I had going on that week. Sometimes I would go Monday and Tuesday, but then not again until Friday. Then other times I would go on the weekends and sometimes I would rest on the weekends and go to the gym during the workweek.

But I discovered that those constant changes were adding stress to my life. And I recently decided to stick to a consistent schedule. I now go to the gym on the same days every week, with no exceptions. I stick to that schedule: I follow it and I don’t change.

It doesn’t have to be a schedule. Some people have suggested that I take this Plain English platform and expand to other languages. They like it so much that they’d love to learn German the same way that they learn English, for example. I’m flattered by the suggestion, but I’m going to stick to English. I’m going to continue doing only English and I’m not going to change.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, some countries took drastic steps to try to eliminate the disease within their borders. Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, and China are examples. But now, two years into the pandemic, and especially with the highly contagious Delta variant , most countries have decided they’re going to have to manage this coronavirus more realistically. Australia is done with lockdowns, for example.

But one country is sticking to the zero-COVID policy: China. For now, China is sticking to the policy that they’ll quarantine and shut down local areas if even one person tests positive. While other countries have gradually started to accept that some level of COVID is inevitable, China is sticking to its zero-COVID policy. China is following that policy without changing it.

You can stick to a diet if you follow that diet without changing it. It’s difficult to stick to diets that are highly restrictive. That’s why many nutritionists say you should choose a diet that you can stick to, choose a diet that you know you can follow. If you choose a diet that you’ll just break in a couple of weeks, you’re not doing yourself any favors.

The same goes for a budget. If you create a budget that shows you’ll save half your take-home pay, that’s amazing! Ah, but can you stick to that budget? Just like a diet, it’s best to create a budget you know you’ll be able to follow without breaking and without changing. Create a realistic budget and stick to it, that’s my advice.

JR’s song of the week

JR’s song of the week is, “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” by Elton John. It’s a duet that he sang with Kiki Dee in 1976. They go back and forth throughout the song, one singing “don’t go breaking my heart,” and the other answering, “I won’t go breaking your heart.” In 1994, Elton John released a version with the American drag queen RuPaul singing the other lines.

See you next time!

And that’s all for today. What do you think about the right to relax? Is this a good idea? Am I just spoiling the party with my workaholic American viewpoint? Let me know in our Facebook group. Share your opinion with me and your fellow Plain English listeners by joining the group at PlainEnglish.com/Facebook.

We’ll probably talk about this topic on a future live conversation call, too. If you’re not familiar with that, it’s a great benefit of Plain English Plus+. Three times a month, we get together for a live small-group conversation call. We usually touch on topics from recent lessons. And I suspect that this may be a topic on a future call. If you’d like to join a call like that, we’d love to have you! Just visit us at PlainEnglish.com/Plus and sign up for a monthly or annual membership. As soon as you’re in, you’ll see the links to the next few calls on your brand-new Plus home page.

That’s it for today—we’ll be back on Monday with a new lesson. See you then!