The majority of us has some kind of goal, but the challenge is how to motivate yourself to achieve it.

In my previous blog entry “4 Conditions to Gain Any Skill“, I explained about the 4 conditions among which the motivation and actions are the most important ones. Also, in other entory “Long journey to the goal“, I highlighted that the action was the key to maintain or improve your skill.

Before action, however, we have to have strong motivation, about which I will talk in this entry. The more difficult the goal you want to achieve, the more efforts and time you will need, and the more you get to lose your initial motivation along the time. I think every one has the similar experience like this.

In general, most people are well motivated in the beginning.

However, as time goes by, you start asking yourself how to get there and how long it will take.

As a result, you might lose your motivation..

In my opinion, there are three types to motivate yourself: (1) Superhero type, (2) Lucky type and (3) Normal type＋α. I will talk about French language, one of my personal goals.

(1). Superhero type 
First of all, this type is very rare and exceptional, since they can maintain motivation just by themselves no matter where, when and how! I know few people like this, but many of us including me don’t belong to this type. In my case, it’s been 3-4 years since I started self-studying French, but it’s been difficult to motivate myself to maintain skill, let alone improve it.

(2). Lucky type 
Fortunately, this type of people have someone/something which helps them to push when their motivation level goes down, be it family, friend, teacher, or motivational materials. Unfortunately, it is not the case for the most of us either. Coming back to my example, I have no one to motivate me to learn French.

(3). Normal type＋α
Lastly, this type is the main point of this entry. You are not superhero or lucky type, so you have to FIND something which pushes you with specific timeline. In my case, I registered for French testーDELF  (Diplôme d’Études en Langue Française) which will take place in one month (now it’s just 2 weeks to go). For this kind of specific goal (pass the test within certain deadline), I started pushing myself by having internet conversation, intensive study, solving sample exam, etc. Although the certificates are not my final goal, it could be motivate and guide me for the further steps. If I won’t make it, I can try again!

Actually, for the first time, I wrote this post in French from the beginning (I usually write in English then translate into other languages). If I had not registered for DELF, I would not have even tried, so at least it is a progress for me.

This time, I learned that
To maintain your motivation for your goal, you have to find something to push yourself, and exam or certificate with specific timeline and road can be useful.