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The Motivation Myth in Language Learning

Do you need more motivation to learn English for business?

*Note: This article may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link.

Do these problems sound familiar?

“How do I get motivated to learn English every day?”
“I know I need to improve my fluency in English, but I just don’t know how to do it. I guess I need more motivation!”
“Yesterday I didn’t practice my English vocabulary list with 50 new words. I just wasn’t motivated enough.”

Most learners struggle with these types of problems.

You might think that you need more motivation to learn English. But you might be surprised to hear that motivation is not what you need to make progress.

Motivation Is a Myth: Why You Don’t Need More Motivation to Learn English

I have just finished reading the book “The Motivation Myth” for the second time in a row.

The Motivation Myth: How High Achievers Really Set Themselves Up to Win

In the book, the author says that we don’t need more motivation to do what we want to do. He gives a lot of helpful and practical advice. I find the book brilliant (and surprisingly motivating), that’s why I read it twice in one month.

Read the book “The Motivation Myth”

The book’s main message is this:

You don’t need motivation. You need a process that works for you.

It’s the same when you are learning English.

Motivation is vague. What does “being motivated” mean? How can you measure motivation?

To become a fluent and confident English speaker, you need to make progress regularly.

You don’t need more motivation to learn English. Instead, you need action.

Motivation can come and go. You cannot wait for it. Instead, you can use a process that you enjoy and that helps you take action.

For learners like you and me, a good process is more effective than having more motivation.

Today, I will show you how you can find a process to learn English. I believe this is the best approach if you want to learn English effectively.

The Language Learning Problem: Words Are Not Enough, Either

Have you ever been told you are not a good learner? Do you ever think you are not talented enough to speak English fluently at work?

The good news is that you can be a good learner. You are absolutely able to learn English. You don’t need any talent or more motivation to learn English successfully.

But here is the bad news: Using an app to learn 10 new English words per day is not enough. Speaking to native English speakers on vacation is not enough. Doing grammar exercises is not enough.

You Need a Process to Learn English Successfully

So, what kind of process do English learners need?

focus and motivation to learn English successfully

I believe that in today’s economy we need two main skills:

Self-education. Even if you take a class or have a teacher to help you, you are the one who has to learn. You need to become an independent learner and know how to teach yourself any skill.

2. Focus. The modern world is full of distractions. As it gets more and more difficult to resist these distractions, focusing is becoming a useful skill. So, what we need to do now more than ever is to focus on what matters and take consistent action.

Learning Process vs. Motivation: Independent Learning

Being an independent learner means teaching yourself. It involves:

trying different learning approaches
knowing yourself and your preferences, and
finding a learning process that works for you.

To become an effective learner, you can – and should – adapt the process to your own needs. You have to personalize your learning process to learn effectively.

Your personal process should become part of your routine.

motivation for learning business English

Start asking yourself these questions:

What do you enjoy?
Why are you learning English for business?
How much time do you have to study in your day?
What business topics are you interested in?
How much money can you spend on your learning process per month or year?
What do you struggle with the most?
Do you prefer to study with books, on your phone, or on the computer?

This is an example of a system that I use and recommend to learners who want to study new words successfully:
How to remember new words

You Need Focus & Consistency Instead of Motivation

Do these distractions sound familiar?

Checking your phone
Chatting with your friends
Reading the news
Spending time on social media

Being able to focus is hard.

In modern life, this skill is difficult to learn. It takes time and practice.

But without focus, you cannot follow the process and take consistent action. If you cannot concentrate, you will not be able to learn English successfully.

Even if it is difficult, I believe we can get a little bit better each day. Organizing yourself and your time is a process, too.

Try these tips the next time you struggle to focus:

Time your study session using the Pomodoro technique. Only 30 minutes can help a lot! I am using a timer app on my computer as I write this article. It has made my writing process much more effective.
Keep a timesheet with the details of every study session: the date, start time, end time, what you learned, which resources you used, etc.
Use a productivity tool such as Trello to track your learning progress. You can set deadlines, attach files, add to-do lists, and more to organize your learning activities.