People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily.
— Zig Ziglar

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned about studying Korean, it’s actually 3 things:

1. It’s hard
2. It’s time-consuming
3. It’s a long, long process

Therefore, the key to succeeding in your Korean language studies is:

MOTIVATION.

Think of motivation (or inspiration) as your daily dose of a vitamin, or morning shot of caffeine. It’s the energy-producer that gets you moving even when you’re tired or depressed. If you run out of motivation, go get some more! It’s the same concept as:

• If you get dirty, go take a shower!
• If you run out of energy (or get hungry), eat something!

This is what it looks like when you run out of motivation

I, for one, know quite well what it’s like to run out of motivation. I recently worked a summer English camp (not my passion, but it pays the bills) that kept me so busy I barely had time to think. This blog suffered from it and my motivation took a huge hit from it as well.

I tried to stay focused on my goals. I tried to keep studying Korean. I tried to keep speaking Korean. But I noticed that the farther into the (energy-draining) camp I got, the less I wanted to work hard at something inherently hard, and the more I just wanted to crash on the couch and watch episodes of Running Man (and claim I was “practicing my listening skills”).

I used to wake up with energy at 5:00 every morning (sometimes 4:30, sometimes 5:30) in order to write this blog or study more Korean. But these days, it’s been a chore to drag myself out of bed before 7:00. I have no energy. My passion is flat. My inspiration is gone. I have nothing to write about and no motivation to study. So…

It’s time to go get some more motivation!

If you run out of motivation, inspiration, passion, then go get some more! It’s time to refuel your tank! Below are a few ways to refill your motivation tank and get back on track as well as some resources to help you do so:

1. Review your past successes (or things that have previously motivated you).
2. Take a look at the cool stuff someone else is doing and use that to spur you on to your own sort of Awesome.
3. Remind yourself of your goal and think about it daily (that’s how this blog grew so fast).
4. Build anticipation of the future reward (even give yourself small rewards during the process – like a nice treat when you pass the TOPIK at a certain level).
5. Stick with it and realize there’s a natural ebb and flow even with motivation.
6. Remember: Something is always better than Nothing. Take baby steps, but keep moving.
7. Be sure your body is well taken care of – eat right, exercise, sleep enough. Your physical body has a HUGE impact on your brain’s ability.
8. Simplify your life – get rid of anything that doesn’t take you in the direction you want to go. Remember: every choice you make either takes you one step closer to or one step farther from your dream.

Here are some more resources to explore:

• Keys to Korean (this blog’s motivational posts)
• Zen Habits: 16 Ways to Get Motivated in a Slump
• WikiHow: How to Get Motivated
• Sid Savara: 8 Tips to Break Your Motivational Funk
• Wise Bread: 25 Ways to Get Motivated Today
• Alex Vermeer: Motivation Poster Project

So tell me, how do you get motivated?

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