Leo Babauta on working and non-working motivations to learn

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

It is quite common when you are on fire with the idea of learning something new, but literally in a couple of weeks your ardor faded away. This happens to many, and the reason is the wrong motivation. There are not many incentives that can keep us on our toes and keep us working hard for a long time. Leo Babauta talks about them.

To begin with, I'll tell you about those motivations that are not a very good driving force. They will stimulate you to achieve results for a while, but, unfortunately, not for long. And at the end of the article, of course, I will give examples of those motivations that will keep your enthusiasm for as long as necessary to learn something new.

Motivations that don't work

Big goal

We often force ourselves to move forward with a big goal. And there is nothing wrong with that. But in the absence of other motivations, this one ceases to work after a couple of weeks. Why? Yes, because you will not reach your goal in two weeks, moreover, you, most likely, will not even come close to it. And this cools the ardor. Don't be afraid to set a big goal, but something else should support you along the way.

Waiting for rapid progress

I have experienced this myself, and I am not at all alone. We want to achieve impressive results in a short time, and when that doesn't work, we get frustrated and retreat. The harsh truth is that it always takes a long time to achieve meaningful results. And no matter how hard we try to quickly grab a piece of knowledge, most often we need to work for months to get it. Set yourself up to realistic expectations, and then even small progress will greatly inspire you.

It sounds cool

How many times have you taken up a challenge just because you thought it would be cool to brag about it later? For example, the fact that you have learned another language. But you forget about the hours, weeks and months of practice. You only think about how great it will be to tell your friends and acquaintances how you pumped yourself up. This weak motivation will be blown away as soon as it becomes a little difficult and tiring for you to study.

Striving for your own ideal

Each of us has some idea of what we still need to achieve, learn in order to become the ideal version of ourselves. We want to be slim, healthy, talented, wise, know several languages, and so on. Again, there is nothing wrong with that, but these thoughts can in no way serve as strong motivation. This is because one day you will stop worrying that you are not perfect. Damn it, you’re already very good, so why wear yourself out and put in so much effort?

Okay, we've figured out that these motivations don't work, but it wouldn't be fair to leave you with just this information. Therefore, in return, I offer you incentives that will keep you in good shape for a longer time.

Motivations that work

Curiosity

Oh, this is my favorite motivator! When I start to learn something new, curiosity takes over me. It, of course, may not be so strong, then it does not inspire me for too long. But sometimes I want to immerse myself in learning deeper and deeper, until I know everything to the smallest detail. So now, when I start something, I ask myself, how curious I am? Try it too! If you have a strong and endless interest in something, feel free to take up the study!

Craving for Research

For me, this is not a tick on my personal list: I have achieved another goal. The urge to explore is similar to curiosity, but I allow myself to take it with a lighter frame of mind. I play, let my curiosity lead me somewhere I don't know myself. And the goal here is actually some kind of discovery. Allow yourself to loosen the grip and not force yourself to learn, but enjoy the research process.

Partner support

I love this method very much and I often call in support of Eve, a friend or one of my children. It's fun to reach goals with someone. When one of the couple loses motivation, the other supports him, and so on all the time. I also really enjoy helping others achieve their goals, so there is a double bonus: I learn myself and I enjoy supporting a companion.

What really cares you

As I mentioned above, we are rather short-term worried about big goals and creating our ideal self. So what are we really worried about? Everyone should ask himself this question. Surely there is something that you remember every day. And you understand that until you study this, you will not see peace. If nothing evokes these emotions, then it's time for you to do your research.

Prove that you can

True teaching is when you have a hard time, you go through hardships, make mistakes, fall and really want to give up everything. But we only learn when we push ourselves forward in difficult conditions. And if every time we stop halfway, then we will not learn anything. And the best motivator for me lately is to prove to myself that I can! And so far I have not let myself down.