I've recently also started learning RoR. For me, the best motivator is to have something in my head that I want to accomplish as soon as I finish the "learning" phase.
For this language, I have two projects - one as a "I just learned this, and I want to make my first app using RoR" project, and one as an actual product that will generate income. The first project is a pretty important part of my learning process, because I know that it's going to take a while to accomplish as I learn all the little things that I didn't pick up in the tutorial. However, hopefully that exercise will make the second project go smoother.
One particular problem for me is when I get to the part of the learning process where I have to deal with things I don't do well. I know that doing actual site layout takes me forever, as I'm a developer and not a designer, so I always end up dragging my feet at that part. If you find yourself quitting then, pay someone to do it for you. Seriously. Even if you're just making the project for fun. Consider that investment as part of the learning process... you'll be much better off having completed the whole project than if you abandon it in the middle.
I really like the idea of having 2 projects to work on. Also agree about reaching out to people so that you dont end up getting bogged down with areas outside of the "core" of your project/learning process.
For this language, I have two projects - one as a "I just learned this, and I want to make my first app using RoR" project, and one as an actual product that will generate income. The first project is a pretty important part of my learning process, because I know that it's going to take a while to accomplish as I learn all the little things that I didn't pick up in the tutorial. However, hopefully that exercise will make the second project go smoother.
One particular problem for me is when I get to the part of the learning process where I have to deal with things I don't do well. I know that doing actual site layout takes me forever, as I'm a developer and not a designer, so I always end up dragging my feet at that part. If you find yourself quitting then, pay someone to do it for you. Seriously. Even if you're just making the project for fun. Consider that investment as part of the learning process... you'll be much better off having completed the whole project than if you abandon it in the middle.