Tackling the Motivation Valley in learning
Ain't nothing like that first day of school dopamine!
Today’s session is brought to you by the sun, who finally decided to appear in NYC despite it being June. Maybe she’s excited about the FARE Act.
Study Notes
Some bits and bobs over the last week:
Throughline’s “The First Department of Education” episode. It’ll always be a shock to me that the word “education” isn’t listed anywhere in the Constitution. Like,,,are you not embarrassed…
Coco Gauff’s TikToks after she wins anything (most things)
SideDoor’s Everybody Pledge Now episode talks through the very ridiculous history of the pledge of allegiance in the U.S. that involves a lovely capitalist lean and a side hustle 🦅
…and now on to the show:
Welcome to the Motivation Valley
Learning new things is hard. Building programs that help people learn new things is also hard. As someone who is doing both, I hit the same frustrating point again and again: a predictable dip right in the middle of the learning journey: The Motivation Valley (TMV).
It typically looks like this (my examples, and this entire post really, are based on online learning programs for adults):
Week 0: Immediate dopamine spike from signing up for a class. You bought new supplies, probably made a nice LinkedIn post about it, and maybe even have your outfit laid out for the first class (hope it’s cute!). YGG.
Week 1: First session. Light, breezy, lots of intros and syllabus talk, and taking a photo or two for posterity.
Week 2: Slight lull in excitement, but the session is mostly lecture format. You can passively tune in while responding to “just seeing this!” texts.
Week 3-4: Welcome to the Motivation Valley. This is where the learning curve spikes and the vibes disappear. You slip into TMV gradually, then have to climb your way out, sandwiched between the excitement of starting and the relief of finishing. That’s why so many people quit in this exact moment. Not from lack of ability, but because choosing hard things, without external pressure (like a teacher or a parent) is almost impossible. Adult learning means choosing challenge over comfort on purpose.
Week 5: Ok, now you’re done :).
Another way of putting this:
Why is this happening?
There’s a ton of research pointing to drop off in online learning programs due to lack of accountability, challenges with the material, and struggles with motivation.
As noted earlier, adults don’t have the external accountability that’s built into traditional secondary and post-secondary education. There’s no teacher or overbearing parent asking (forcing) them to complete assignments. Because so much of adult learning is rooted in curiosity, rather than formality, self-regulation and motivation is really hard to come by.
Also, learning something new is just a rough game. We expect learning to be linear, but it's not. We think consistent effort should equal consistent progress, it doesn’t.
Intentional Rescue Kits
Motivation Valleys aren’t going anywhere. So instead of pretending they don’t exist, let’s build for them. Enter: Rescue Kits. These are the strategic boosts, planted by program leads AND learners, to balance the TMV slump and climb.
See updated graphic:
Learners
Track the “invisible” progress: We love a good before and after moment, so try to find yours. Record yourself before and after, compare early notes to current insights, track how your questions evolve
Program builders
Highlighting struggle data: I don’t usually lead with the negative, but it helps to tell adult learners upfront where most people struggle or drop off. It shifts the mindset from I’m failing to #TrustTheProcess
Create valley-specific content: Adding lower-stakes activities will make learners feel like they got a win, make them feel capable. This can look like vulnerability from experts on a panel, peer support from others who are struggling, or honestly, just a nice pat on the back
Celebrate process over outcome: Reward effort and consistency because that’s what drives progress in adult learning. Most people won’t become experts, especially in a compressed online program, but showing up regularly builds momentum and deepens engagement
I guess our parents were right, the ~real learning starts when the going gets tough.