Have You Reached The Dip?

… never quit something with great long-term potential just because you can’t deal with the stress of the moment. – Seth Godin, “The Dip”

One of my favorite books is by a pretty brilliant business author named Seth Godin. That book, as you might be able to guess, is called “The Dip.” I’m not going to tell you everything from this book, but I am going to give you a quick summary, and show you how it relates to your Japanese studies. If you’re interested in this kind of thing, though, I highly recommend it.

At the end of Season 1, I’m guessing, you were probably feeling pretty good (though, that depends on you as an individual). Now we’re starting to learn more vocab. Kanji is starting to build up. There’s more and more information you need to keep track of. Basically, things are getting harder. You’re moving towards “The Dip.”

Here’s the basic idea: “The Dip” comes into play when you start something new (in your case, Japanese). The results for the effort you put in at the beginning is pretty good. You have adrenaline, excitement, and a ton of awesome new things you’re learning. Basically, you feel good. There’s a lot to learn, and not much you have to fix. You feel like you’re getting a lot done in a short amount of time.

Then bam. “The Dip” arrives. This is when all of a sudden things start getting harder, because you’re learning more advanced stuff. There’s more to learn, and it becomes discouraging. Perhaps this is where you are right now (perhaps it’s not, too, but you should keep on reading because this happens to nearly everyone, no matter who you are). Luckily, there’s a reason why this happens, and many ways to fix it.

前 →