Feeling the Burn of Language Learning Motivation

Now that Thai New Years is over how about a New Year’s resolution, Thai-Style?

In Nir Eyal’s article on Psychology Today, A Surefire Tip For Making Yourself Do What You Need to Do, he wrote about a motivational idea that’s just kinky enough to work: The “burn or burn” technique.

His article wanders around a bit so I’ll cover just the interesting bits. Basically, the idea is that burning money is painful so if you go along with the “burn or burn” method you will avoid at least one of the burns by sticking to whatever challenge you’ve set yourself. That’s if you are not a cheater. Cheaters need not apply.

This is how to “burn or burn”…

• Decide what you are going to study.
• Choose your study time(s).
• Mark your study time(s) on a calendar.
• Beg, borrow, or steal a crisp $100 bill.
• Grab your man’s lighter.
• Tape the $100 bill to today’s date.
• Place the lighter nearby.

It doesn’t matter if it’s US dollars, Thai baht or UK pounds. Just make sure that it’s a large enough amount that it’d be painful to set alight.

I chose US$100 for two reasons. Reason One) The amount would matter to the man and the man matters (it’s all funny money to me). And Reason Two) US dollars are difficult to spend in Thailand so it’s not like I’ll find any old excuse to buy something with it.

Nir: Now you have a choice to make: Every day, when the time comes to do your routine, you can chose either option A and do the routine, which in my case was to feel the “burn” in the gym, or option B—literally, burning your money. You can’t give the money to someone or buy something with it, you have to set it aflame.

As radical as “burn or burn” sounds, there’s good science to support why it’s so effective: For one, it’s no surprise we hate losing money. But why not pay yourself for doing the routine instead of taking money away?

Tip 1: Instead of a paper calendar (who uses paper anymore anyway) an iOS app such as Don’t Break The Chain! will work just as well. I’ve used that app before and it’s a dandy way to keep track (and you feel just as guilty). If you have Android there’s Lift and others.

Tip 2: Tape your lighter and money of choice to an area you’ll see daily. I put mine on the wall right by the kettle. In that way I also get the ‘feel good’ of treating myself to a cuppa before I embark on my studies.

Tip 3: For emotional support, arrange for a Study Buddy to go with distance with you. I lucked out because my Study Buddy is far better at sticking to language studies than I am (I’m seriously caca). And an added plus, he’s not sympathetic to whining.

After much discussion the main course materials (Thai, French, and Italian) have been chosen and our schedule is set for three months. I’m quite chuffed because it’s all good (materials and time limit). I can do this.

Burn, baby, burn… or not.

Confused? Go to: A Surefire Tip For Making Yourself Do What You Need to Do.

Nir Eyal is the author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products and blogs about the psychology of products at NirAndFar.com. He has nothing to do with language learning.