激励 (jīlì)

激励 means to motivate, inspire, or encourage someone to strive harder -- it implies an active push that fires up a person's determination and enthusiasm to achieve goals.

Meanings

[verb] to motivate; to inspire; to encourage; to spur on
[noun] motivation; incentive; inspiration

Example Sentences

老师的一番话深深地激励了学生们努力追求梦想。 Lǎoshī de yī fān huà shēnshēn de jīlìle xuéshēngmen nǔlì zhuīqiú mèngxiǎng. The teacher's words deeply motivated the students to pursue their dreams with effort.

公司设立了奖金制度，以激励员工提高工作积极性。 Gōngsī shèlìle jiǎngjīn zhìdù, yǐ jīlì yuángōng tígāo gōngzuò jījí xìng. The company established a bonus system to motivate employees to improve their work enthusiasm.

他的创业故事激励了无数年轻人勇敢地追求自己的目标。 Tā de chuàngyè gùshì jīlìle wúshù niánqīngrén yǒnggǎn de zhuīqiú zìjǐ de mùbiāo. His entrepreneurial story has inspired countless young people to bravely pursue their own goals.

内在激励往往比外部奖励更能持久地推动一个人的发展。 Nèizài jīlì wǎngwǎng bǐ wàibù jiǎnglì gèng néng chíjiǔ de tuīdòng yī gè rén de fāzhǎn. Intrinsic motivation often drives a person's development more sustainably than external rewards.

那次失败的经历反而成为激励他再次出发的动力。 Nà cì shībài de jīnglì fǎn ér chéngwéi jīlì tā zàicì chūfā de dònglì. That experience of failure instead became the motivation that inspired him to start again.

领导者的职责之一是为团队成员提供激励和支持。 Lǐngdǎozhě de zhízé zhī yī shì wèi tuánduì chéngyuán tígōng jīlì hé zhīchí. One of a leader's responsibilities is to provide motivation and support to team members.

Collocations

Collocation	Meaning
激励机制	incentive mechanism
激励员工	motivate employees
内在激励	intrinsic motivation
激励作用	motivating effect
激励措施	incentive measures
相互激励	mutually inspire each other

Usage Notes

激励 is stronger and more action-oriented than 鼓励 (gǔlì, to encourage). While 鼓励 means to give emotional encouragement and support, 激励 implies firing up someone's energy and drive to achieve something specific. 激励 can take both a person and a behavior as its object: 激励他 (motivate him) or 激励他努力工作 (motivate him to work hard).

In organizational and managerial Chinese, 激励机制 (incentive mechanism) is a common technical term for the system of rewards designed to motivate performance.

Memory Hook

激 = to stir up/excite (激动 -- excited), 励 = to encourage/exert effort -- stirring up someone's effort and determination -- to motivate and inspire.