选摘：

长时间辛苦努力却不见成效难免会令人气馁。在第四篇博客中，我们了解到将任务分解为多个更为切近的目标可有效地避免你因目标过于宏伟而手足无措，还有助于回顾目前已取得的成绩，为自己的进步喝彩，可谓一举多得。在实现近期小目标后奖励自己可提供积极的反馈，鞭策自己再接再厉。

 

Digest：

It is difficult to keep working at something for a long time without positive feedback. In Blog 4 we saw how powerful it is to break down the task into intermediary goals. As well as stopping you from becoming overwhelmed by the huge task ahead, setting smaller targets will help you to review what you have achieved so far and to celebrate your progress. Rewarding yourself for achieving smaller intermediary goals gives positive feedback so that you can keep pushing yourself to achieve more in the future.

 

第五步：时刻保持斗志高昂——“没有人能随随便便成功”！

有人说马拉松比赛真正始于35公里处，而之前的部分仅仅是热身。对此我深有体会。在2009年北京马拉松赛中，我在大约36公里处遭遇了运动员所说的“碰壁”经历，苦不堪言。我自认为此前一直状态良好，可臀部一阵突然的刺痛使我明显放慢了脚步，似乎大脑中每个细胞都在叫喊着“快停下！”。

 

最后的5公里毫无乐趣可言，确切地说，可谓艰苦卓绝。坚持跑完这最后几公里是我曾经历过最困难的事情之一。然而这也正是马拉松的意义所在——并不是每个人都可以轻而易举地完成比赛。

                 距离北京马拉松赛的终点仅有10米之遥！

我必须坦言，坚持每天早起穿上运动鞋进行晨练并非易事。过去两周，攀登慕士塔格峰前的准备训练较为艰苦。现在我已依照计划完成了三个月的训练，然而随着训练强度已接近最高水平，我发现自己最初的热情正在消退。日复一日的训练变得索然无味，健身房的锻炼令我筋疲力尽，而这样的日子却似乎远无止境。我开始怀疑自己是否在进步，体能是否在加强，甚至认为自己是在不进而退。

 

以上这些经历都是努力实现艰巨的长期目标者的必经之路。我也开始逐渐认识到自己体能和热情的起伏变化。

实际上，耐力训练不仅是增强体力。在过去几年中，我学会了一系列技巧，使我可以在意志消沉时重振士气。我已在此前的几篇博客中陆续介绍了其中的一些方法，各位可回顾以上博客做以参考。

 

在此向各位提出如下建议，以保持十足干劲：

1.坚持执行计划

上一篇博客探讨了设计学习计划的重要性。其一项益处就是可为你提供“外部驱动力”。无论你心情如何，都需要遵循时间表，严格依计划行动。这一简单的规则可在多数情况下帮助你持续前进。如果你坚持实施自己的计划，最终将品尝到成功的喜悦。

 

2.确保你的目标切合实际

不论是进行马拉松赛前训练还是学习一门语言，大多数人都需要投入大量的时间和精力进行准备，无捷径可言。倘若计划不切实际，你便无法在预期的时间内取得成效，从而感到心灰意冷。第二篇博客主要关注如何脚踏实地，制定明智的计划——请各位回顾并体会。

 

3.充分认识训练/学习过程

确定新目标之初，你可能激动不已，信心百倍。在初期阶段也很容易获得成就感——每学会一个新单词都是向着正确的方向又前进了一步。

但是随着你不断深入，进步便不再那么显著，感觉似乎是陷入了瓶颈期。因此有必要在学习计划中留出时间用以回顾学习成果。语言学家认识到语言学习不是直线前进的过程，并非第一次学习后便可掌握知识。相反，学习具有周期性。换言之，你需要不断回顾和复习已学过的知识，反复多次，加深印象。

我们认识到了语言学习的特点，就能更好地理解进步的过程，并时刻保持动力充沛。

 

4.想象成功的情景

回顾并考虑你的梦想（见第一篇博客）及其对于自己的重要性，重新燃起对目标的激情——应重点关注其可为你带来的收益。现在试着在脑海中想象成功时的图景，比如你取得优异的雅思成绩后，与朋友和家人额手相庆的画面。运动员经常使用这一方法，我认为的确有所帮助。

如果你认为依靠想象比较困难，也可以借助诸如“无限风光在险峰”等箴言，消除负面的想法，保持积极的心态。当你心灰意冷时，不妨向自己重复这些箴言，或是将其设置为电脑的屏保，时刻激励自己。

    我笃定，他此时正在想象自己登顶时的情景！（皇家地理协会供图）

 

5. 设立小目标

名言：“千里之行，始于足下。” ——中国谚语

长时间辛苦努力却不见成效难免会令人气馁。在第四篇博客中，我们了解到将任务分解为多个更为切近的目标可有效地避免你因目标过于宏伟而手足无措，还有助于回顾目前已取得的成绩，为自己的进步喝彩，可谓一举多得。在实现近期小目标后奖励自己可提供积极的反馈，鞭策自己再接再厉。

 

6. 寻找动力源泉

如果你发现自身的动力已经用尽，还可从外部事物中寻找其它来源。如果你开动脑筋，便会有所发现。例如，你可以阅读其他成功者的奋斗经历，访问启迪网站，观看励志电影或听听音乐。

许多语言学家认为，同侪是强大的动力源泉——寻找与你志同道合的朋友或“偶像”，并与他们交流。同时，对于目标语言相应文化的浓厚兴趣也可成为你的动力。因此不妨花些时间了解你的留学目的国，尽量培养对其文化及当地人的好感。

 

7. 最后，“乐在其中”

摇滚歌手大卫·鲍伊(David Bowie)在歌中唱到“每当我们厌倦了家庭作业，就把课本丢进壁炉里，开着汽车进城去放松心情。”我们都需要不时地娱乐和放松。你可以阅读英文笑话、听英文歌曲或者玩英文拼字游戏——学习之道正是在于寓学于乐，潜移默化。同时记得放松也要讲究节制，张弛有度。

 

 

Step 5: Keeping motivated – nobody said it was going to be easy!

 

They say that the real marathon begins at 35 kilometres – the rest is just a warm up. And sure enough, in 2009, at around the 36 kilometre point of the Beijing Marathon I experienced what runners call ‘hitting the wall’ – which is about as unpleasant as it sounds. I had been doing well until that point, I thought, but suddenly a sharp pain stabbed into my hip, my pace slowed down dramatically and every brain cell in my head seemed to be screaming “stop!!!”

 

The last 5 kilometres were not fun; in fact, they were really hard work. Keeping motivated to run those last few kilometres was one of the hardest things I had ever done. But that is what makes running a marathon such a rewarding experience – if it were easy everyone would do it.

            About 10 meters from the end of the Beijing marathon!

 

I have to admit it is sometimes not even easy to find the motivation to get out of bed, pull on your running shoes and head out into the morning to go for another run. These last two weeks of training for the Muztagata climb have been a little tough. I have been following my training plan for about three months now and just as the intensity of the workouts is reaching a peak I find that my initial enthusiasm has all been used up. The routine is getting boring, day after day of going to the gym is beginning to wear me down and there still seems so much longer to keep this up. I have begun to doubt that I am actually making any progress or getting any fitter and even thought that I might be going backwards!

 

These are all very common experiences for people who are working towards challenging, longer term, goals and I have learned to recognise these “highs” and “lows” in my energy and enthusiasm.

 

In fact, there is more to endurance training than just the physical side and over the years I have learned a number of tricks that help me to deal with the days when my early motivation seems to have abandoned me for good. Some of these I have already mentioned in earlier blogs so you can go back and check them out too.

 

My Top Tips for keeping your motivation high are:

 

1. Stick to the plan

 

Last blog looked at the importance of having a study plan. One advantage is that it gives you an external (or “extrinsic”) source of motivation. You have a schedule to follow no matter how you feel so Stick to the Plan. This simple rule will keep you going in most cases and you will feel so much better afterwards if you do keep to your plan.

 

2. Ensure that your expectations are realistic

 

Whether you are training for a marathon or learning a language, preparing for such challenges will take most people a long time and involve lots of hard work. There is no escaping this truth so if you have set an unrealistic time-line you will probably get frustrated and lose motivation when the results do not come as quickly as you had hoped. Blog 2 was all about being realistic and how to make an informed plan – go back and have a look!

 

3. Understand the training/learning process

 

Motivation at the start is easy as you are probably filled with excitement about your new goal. It is also very easy to feel a sense of progress in the early stages; every new word you learn is moving you in the right direction.

 

However, the more advanced you are, the less your progress is obvious to you and it is easy to think that you have got stuck. For this reason it is important to make time in your study plan to review your learning. Linguists know that the process of learning a language does not follow a straight line. You don’t learn something once and then ‘know’ it. Learning is ‘cyclical’; in other words you have to go back and review what you have studied several times so that it is ‘learned’ a little bit more deeply each time.

 

By understanding how we learn languages you can better understand your progress and keep your motivation high.

 

4. Visualise success

 

Go back and think about your dream (blog 1) and why it is important to you. Get yourself excited about your goal again - focus on the benefits it will bring you. Now try to visualise in your mind what success will look like, maybe a picture of you holding your IELTS tests result and all you friends and family congratulating you. Athletes use this technique all the time and I think it really helps.

 

If you find it hard to visualise you can try to keep a positive attitude by pushing out negative thoughts when you get them with a ‘mantra’ such as ‘Nothing worth achieving is going to be easy!’ When you feel de-motivated repeat your mantra to yourself or write in on your computer screen saver so you see it every day!

I bet he is imagining himself on the summit! (photo: Royal Geographic Society)

 

5. Set mini-goals

 

Quote: “The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” Chinese proverb

 

It is difficult to keep working at something for a long time without positive feedback. In Blog 4 we saw how powerful it is to break down the task into intermediary goals. As well as stopping you from becoming overwhelmed by the huge task ahead, setting smaller targets will help you to review what you have achieved so far and to celebrate your progress. Rewarding yourself for achieving smaller intermediary goals gives positive feedback so that you can keep pushing yourself to achieve more in the future.

 

 

6. Look for inspiration

 

When you find that your internal (or “intrinsic”) motivation has dried up, look for external sources of inspiration. If you think about it there are lots of places to find motivation; for example you can read about others who have achieved great things, check motivational websites, watch an inspirational movie or listen to music.

 

Your “peer” group is considered by many linguists to be a very strong motivator – find friends or role models who share the same goals and speak to them. It is also recognised that having a strong interest in the culture of the target language is very motivating, so take some time to learn about the country you want to visit – try to develop a positive attitude towards this culture and its people.

 

7. …… and finally “have some fun”

 

There is a line in a song by David Bowie, “and when the homework gets you down, we’ll throw the books on the fire and take the car downtown”. There are times when we all need to relax and have some fun. You can do this and still be developing language skills by learning some jokes, listening to songs or playing word games in English. Throw yourself into them and enjoy them – the learning often happens by osmosis! Just remember - don't do too much of this!