How to Stay Motivated to Learn New Things
- Nick Nantais NEWN
- Feb 17, 2021
- 7 min read
Updated: Feb 19, 2021
Listen and follow along here
Support me here on Patreon :)
Hi guys welcome back to Natural English with Nick, a podcast for those learning English. In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about motivation and 4 (four) ways you can stay motivated every single day whether it be for learning English, developing a new skill or developing a personal or professional project. Whatever it may be, I must say I really do love these topics, I do a lot of reading on this topic in particular and I’m very excited to share my ideas with you. Remember I’m here to teach you English, motivational speaking is not per say my expertise and that is something I’m learning along with you guys ( by making these podcasts, by getting feedback and most importantly through practise). But I’ll remind you if you would like a free PDF transcription of today’s episode, you can visit my site Natural English with Nick, I’ll put a link in the description so you can easily find it. On my site, you can also arrange private lessons with me to practise conversation whether you’re at a beginner or intermediate level. I also just created a Patreon page where you can support this project monetarily if you like these podcasts so that I can afford to spend more time making content for you guys and eventually grow this project even more. Your generosity goes a long way! Thank you so much for listening and let’s get started.
Take action
I truly believe that motivation is a result of momentum. Think of it as rolling (a circular object that moves from momentum) a snowball down a hill, as the snowball goes down the hill, it starts going faster and faster, collecting more and more snow as it tumbles down ( falls down a hill). Motivation is no different. You can’t wait for motivation to just knock ( to hit the door) on your front door. You have to take the initiative, go out and find it which brings us to our first point. As the great American writer Mark Twain once said, “ the secret to getting ahead is getting started”. I couldn’t agree more, it is not enough to sit there and simply wait until you’re motivated to do something without taking action. This was a misconception I had when it came to doing well anything a few years ago. I thought that some people were just naturally more motivated than others and thought to myself “man I wonder how they can do that?” “ day after day, just getting out there and grinding (informal, to work hard)” “ I wish I had that”. For some reason, I thought motivation was a personality trait that wasn’t something you could acquire through discipline and persistent action. But I was wrong. A motivated mindset can be attained and maintained for an extended period of time if you have the willpower ( discipline) to get started. So my first tip is simply to take action, take the bull by the horns ( idiom, be proactive) as we say which means take control over what you can in your life, seize the time you do have and make the most out of it and I’m sure you will find yourself a lot more motivated to keep going.
Combine things you have to do with things you like to do
I think that a lot of people’s problem when it comes to finding the motivation to get started on a given task is the dread ( noun, dislike) that is associated with that thing that has to get done, that assignment that has to be handed in ( to submit) by Friday, that project from your boss that has to been ready for clients on Monday. The obligation of having to do something we don’t want to do, by someone else’s deadline that is taking away (to remove) from the time we have to pursue projects or activities that we genuinely are interested in pursuing. Why not combine a labourous, pain-staking (rigourous) chore you have to do with something positive, something you get pleasure from? Hey I’m not by any means an endorser ( someone who promotes something) of multi-tasking and I’ll tell you why in a future episode. But that said, it doesn’t mean that you can reward yourself either after you finish this tedious task or when you take a break from working on it. If you’re unfamiliar with this concept and how it can benefit you in terms of motivation particularly in language learning, I recommend you check out ( look at) my previous podcast “Reward in Language Learning'' since I dedicated an entire episode to the topic. But seriously as far as motivation is concerned, you have to make whatever you have to do or even deep-down ( internally) want to do as attractive as possible. I’ll give you an example, say ( for example) you really like playing piano but you have a biology exam to study for and all you can think about is putting on your PJ’s (slang, pajamas, clothes you sleep in) eating some ice cream and playing piano into the night. If you can’t find the motivation to sit down and study, here’s my suggestion, tell yourself okay I’ll study for just 30 (thirty) minutes and then I’ll go play piano and relax for the night. I promise you, the simple fact of having started the activity will make you want to keep going, and going and going and if you’re lucky 30 minutes might just turn into 40 (forty), or 50 (fifty) , and then an hour of studying or more. The trick is to give yourself the chance to get the motivation (I meant to say*momentum*) flowing so being productive will have a snowball effect and as we talked about in the first example, which will result in your progress accumulating.
Make things as easy to start as possible
I’m not going to lie number three is going to require a bit more planning to carry out ( to execute) but in the end, I promise it will be worth it. Make things as easy as possible to get started. I know what you’re thinking “ but Nick does that mean I have to use my brain and think about motivation and this god-awful (terrible) task before even doing?!” Yes my friends, it does, but it will be worth it and allow you to be so much more efficient. It’s funny because I feel like whenever I give advice I always include a planning step, and there is a reason for that. Planning is quintessential to your success in fostering ( to create) motivation. Why? Because it makes procrastination seem less desirable and that my dear listeners is extremely important. The easier it is to start a task, the more likely that task is to get done and even more importantly the more likely you are to create a vicious cycle in which the momentum you have created might just sustain you to get something else done and then another thing done. If you want to learn more about this topic, I plan to talk about it in an upcoming podcast *spoiler alert* “How to wake up earlier” in which I’ll really break this down so it’s digestible all the while contexualing it in my personal life so you can see what I mean. Ultimately, it all comes down to ( it simply consists of) preparing for what you have to do the night before, it might be as simply as charging your devices, laying out your clothes, and preparing your coffee for the next day. Whatever is going to make that chore so ridiculously easy to start that you can’t possibly procrastinate since boom ( interjection, slang used for emphasis) it’s there right in front of you so what are you waiting for?
Create the perfect environment for yourself
This next one is relative to you that’s why it’s so important to know yourself and your personality. Number four is creating the perfect environment for yourself to stay motivated. While I will generally advise to dial in that is, to focus entirely on what you’re doing without people distracting you. I understand that for many people, myself included to a degree, who are motivated by being around people this can be tough ( difficult). But the key is ideally always to find a balance, if you’re a social butterfly ( a very social person), make time in your day to meet with people and have discussions or because the world is still in shambles (in a destrious state) Skype them or contact your friends and family when you feel the need to share your thoughts and hear theirs. But get to work, when you have things to do, deadlines to meet, goals to reach, get started and use the techniques we’ve talked about here today to push you into doing those things. The key if you retain nothing else from this podcast is knowing how to create the easiest, more enjoyable place (atmosphere) to get stuff done and suffer. What’s fun without a little bit of suffering right? There must be a balance. You can’t have fun all the time. But if you put your energy into the right things, you’ll realise that actually the task that seemed* like it was going to suck ( in this case, be unenjoyable) the most in the beginning turned out to be the most rewarding thing you did that week and that multiples and can extend to all areas of your life if you let it. Consume yourself in the struggle you enjoy the most, what are you willing to suffer for? What problems do you enjoy solving the most? Creating the perfect environment for yourself might mean eliminating distractions because if you're like me you get distracted every two minutes. Maybe you’re a high energy person and going for a run during your off-time or working out is your release from what you have to do. I would also put myself in that category as well. Your environment will without a doubt shape your productivity and your life. Simplify it and make it as user-friendly as possible.
Outro
I hope you enjoyed this podcast. If you would like to see me grow this podcast and make more free/paid content for you guys, please support this project on Patreon/ Paypal. The more people join, the more time I will have to provide you with top quality content.
Thank you for listening
Your generosity goes a long way
Take care
Comments