You might remember the meaning of the character 励 with this easy mnemonic:
My mother exhorted me to be an artist by taking me to the cliff (厂) once (一) a day to look at the everchanging waves. She told me that only the power (力) of a paintbrush can capture that beauty.
Using mnemonics to remember the meaning of Chinese characters like has a huge impact on how long to learn Mandarin it takes.