Hey there! This is TOP episode 215. You Will NEVER Lose Motivation Again
I’m Ola, an English teacher with over a decade of teaching under my belt. I firmly believe that unlocking fluency is within your reach. In fact, the key to fluency is in your pocket. Imagine confidently speaking English, conquering your fears, and embracing effective communication.
Don’t forget to explore my website at teacherola.com. You’ll find transcripts and helpful worksheets for this episode and more. Plus, you can join my TOPeople newsletter for weekly motivation and English-speaking challenges. Let’s make speaking English enjoyable and fulfilling! Enjoy your journey to fluency! Happy learning!
Hello there, thank you so much for tapping play! Motivation! This is such a massive problem I notice among students I decided I need to address it. Not in just one episode, because there’s a lot to talk about. Today, we’re looking into the mechanism. You’ll understand how motivation works because it’s just a body reaction that you can trigger. You and only you have a built-in system that works but you need to understand how. This mechanism will keep you going until you reach your goal.
One more thing. If you like this episode please write a comment or review, like or share, and you can also reach out to me on Instagram. If this episode helps, let me know. Please do.
Let’s now explore the science behind staying motivated. I know that staying motivated is your biggest challenge that’s why I figured we need to address this topic and we need to do this from different angles, so today we’ll figure out what motivation really is.
Let me tell you this upfront. It’s all about your goal. If you want to change your job and you want it really bad you will do everything that’ll get you closer to that new position.
So number one is: find your goal. English is just a tool, a vehicle to get you to your dreams, what is it? Career? Working from abroad? Teaching foreign students? Getting promoted? Travel? The family who live abroad? Ambition? What is it? Find out what you want and then ask yourself, is that true? Is it your true intrinsic motivation? Is it your goal? Or maybe you just copy other people’s goals. Please, listen to your inner voice and tell yourself the truth.
Number two. Figure out a plan. Find a method, a system that works for you. It can be this podcast + Worksheets. You can go back to episode 76 and find out how to learn English effectively with a notebook, this podcast and 10 minutes of your time a day. Nevertheless, whatever plan you choose, whatever system, choose one thing and commit yourself to it. Assign a specific place and time of day when you execute your plan. And now, a very important thing. Before your learning session (no matter how long, 10 minutes or 2 hours) think about your goal. I want to find a better job, I hate my current job and want another one. It’s just an example, find your true goal. Ok? I’m going to do this English now because I want to change jobs. I want to earn more money, I want to feel confident and in order to achieve that I have to do this lesson, this learning session. Attach emotions to learning. Your brain needs to know it’s important! Otherwise, why would it spend so much precious energy on something that is not vital? You have to tell yourself it is vital. Each time you do it, you strengthen this connection in your brain. You rewire your brain into a new way of thinking and what happens next?
Number three: you start noticing progress. You begin to understand more, you begin to speak to yourself out loud, and you recognise more patterns. Your brain becomes interested and encouraged to invest more energy into this whole learning thing because it clearly works out. That’s when the dopamine is released. We’re just a mixture of various chemicals, aren’t we?
In order to see the results though you have to sit and learn first. Action comes first, not motivation. You will get motivated when you see the tangible results.
You need to genuinely crave the goal first. Get excited by every small success. Finishing the page of the book, listening to that podcast episode, translating an article, learning present tenses, and each most minor step on your way is a valuable input.
And here’s something important, please listen carefully: Our capacity to tap into motivation is infinite when we focus on the process of learning rather than the reward itself. Amazing! Once again: Our capacity to tap into motivation is infinite when we focus on the process of learning rather than the reward itself. In other words, you have to perceive learning as the ultimate reward. Understanding more, recognising more vocabulary, using new grammar structures – these are your achievements, your rewards. Bom, dopamine release. And so on and so forth!
It’s a limitless source of motivation, your own body! Your positive emotional approach is the most important element but, make sure your positive attitude is grounded in reality, right? It shouldn’t be unrealistic. And don’t get me wrong, your big goal can be as big as you want it to be, and I believe it can be achieved. Anything. But, be realistic about this particular class. Like: I’m going to learn all the tenses in one afternoon. Impossible. Set something realistic, don’t try to fool yourself, OK? You need to have achievements, you need to see clearly tangible results. That will cause the dopamine boats. So a better goal would be: I’m going to learn how to form present simple and present continuous. That can be easily done in one short session. Done, achievement, reward!
Let me summarise this episode. How to stay motivated? Simple!
- Name your goal
- Choose a learning plan and stick to it, execute it every day with discipline + engage emotionally. Tell yourself your goal each time you learn, and make sure your brain understands the importance of this learning session.
- Notice progress and celebrate every small win with emotions. That will release dopamine, the reward mechanism and it will cause you to come back and go on. You will stay motivated forever.
Now, time to practice speaking. Listen and repeat the sentences out loud:
I know that staying motivated is your biggest challenge.
Let me tell you this upfront.
Is it your true intrinsic motivation?
Figure out a plan.
Choose one thing and commit yourself to it.
Assign a specific place and time of day.
Attach emotions to learning.
You will get motivated when you see the tangible results.
It’s a limitless source of motivation.
It shouldn’t be unrealistic.
That’s it for today’s episode! I hope you got inspired and I hope you didn’t get motivated. Motivation is a mechanism that is similar to a built-in system within you and outside motivation doesn’t exist. Set a goal and if you wish please let me know what your goal is. Contact me on Instagram because I believe this episode will help you to find an infinite source of motivation inside you.
Don’t forget to check out the Worksheet for this episode at teacherola.com/215. I’ll be back next week with more language learning tips. Until then, stay fearless, keep speaking, and take care. Bye for now! And hey! Say it out loud!