6 best inspirational K-Dramas to keep us motivated in 2023

It is the new year, which means new goals and new dreams that need lots of motivation to pursue our dreams. But where could we find that motivation, though?

For sure, we could find it in some inspirational K-dramas that will give us lots of power to go on and follow our dreams.

 I want to share some of my favorite Inspirational K-Dramas with you, hoping those dramas will motivate you to go ahead and work on your goals.

6 Inspirational K-Dramas to watch in 2023

Twenty Five Twenty One

Twenty Five Twenty One | Official Trailer | Netflix [ENG SUB]

Aside from the heart-rending ending and the one-of-a-kind love story, no one can deny Twenty Five Twenty One was about growth and pursuing our dreams.

From the first moment we meet our heroine, Na Hee-do, it is clear how she shines when doing fencing, the sport she is passionate about and wants to be better at despite hitting a slump and everyone nagging her to quit. 

We also have our male lead, Baek Ye-jin, who dreams of working at NASA but has to give up because of the IMF crisis, yet he finds a new career where he glows. 

Whether following a dream for life or taking on a new one, the drama gives us hope that Tomorrow will be better as long as we continue going on with our life with passion.

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Navillera

Navillera | Official Trailer | Netflix [ENG SUB]

Who said dreams have an expiration date and only young people can dream? With one of my favorite drama land grandpas, grandpa Shim, we learn that as long you have passion, you can do almost anything, even if it means learning how to do ballet in your seventies, with your memories fading because of Alzheimer’s. 

Since he was young, grandpa has always dreamt of doing ballet, and even now, the one thing that helps jog his fading memory is the dream he once gave up on and is currently yearning to pursue. Of course, grandpa’s journey to achieve his dream isn’t a walk in the park. 

Still, with determination and hard work, he gets to fulfill his dream and soar brightly on the stage, where everyone gets astonished at how grandpa’s hard work pays off, managing to do what everyone thought was impossible. 

She was pretty

She Was Pretty Official Trailer

Throughout her life, our once and always pretty heroine, Kim Hye-jin, kept believing, just like in fairy tales, there are main characters that stand in the spotlight and secondary ones that don’t deserve to shine. 

But is that right? Of course not, and eventually, Hye-jin realizes that she is wrong to have believed that. 

Everyone is the main character of their life, and we all deserve to shine. Everyone is unique in their way and has a story to tell that is entirely different from others’ stories. 

With that new concept, Hye-jin starts to shine brightly both at work and in her love story with our hero, Hi Sung-joon, whom she had feelings for since they were children but hesitated to tell him about her real feelings. 

ALSO READ: 12 Korean Drama OSTs That Every Kdrama Enthusiasts Know By Heart

Start Up

Start-Up | Official Trailer | Netflix [ENG SUB]

When the drama’s mantra is “follow your dream,” it is impossible not to get motivated and start working on your goals. 

Our heroine, Seo Dal-mi, may have dropped out of college and settled for a contractual job, but she has always dreamed of taking the elevator to the highest floor in her heart. 

When the opportunity comes her way, she doesn’t hesitate and quits her job to pursue her dreams. 

Just like her, our hero, Nam Do-san, and his two friends are following their dream of developing a new AI software. 

Unfortunately, despite their hard work, they need to secure investment and move out of the scorching rooftop where their Sam San company lies. 

Eventually, the Sam San trio run into Dal-mi, and together they set up a new start-up, which proves more successful than other people have expected.

Pinocchio

[Kdrama] Pinocchio Trailer

Pinocchio is a fantasy story with a good chunk of the inspirational K-Dramas recipe as it follows the story of  a young woman, Choi In-ha, who has a unique condition where she keeps hiccupping whenever she tells a lie.

 In-ha has always dreamt of becoming a reporter, and, despite failing to get accepted into a news broadcasting company for the umpteenth time, she can’t bring herself to give up on her dream and get a random job. 

Luckily, an opportunity shows up, and In-ha gets an internship at a famous news broadcasting company. Together with our hero, Choi Dal-Po / Ki Ha-Myeong, In-ha does her best to uncover the truth about the cases they encounter. 

For sure, our leads’ mission is a challenge. Not with evil people going all out to cover up their crimes and stop our leads from pursuing their goals of becoming genuine reporters. 

However, our heroes make it through with determination and hard work and disclose team evil’s crimes.

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Police University

[Police UniversityㅣTeaser Trailer] “Do you guys want to be successful in love?”

While our female lead, Oh Kang-he, has dreamed of becoming a police officer since she was young. 

Our hero, Kang Sun-ho, a former hacker, finds his new calling most funnily ever, falling in love at first sight with our heroine and following her to the police university. 

However, it doesn’t matter how you got in touch with that dream, but what you do to achieve it. And Sun-ho spares no effort to follow his new-found dream of becoming a righteous police officer who puts criminals behind bars no matter what it takes. 

Together with their best friends and detective-turned-professor, our heroes dig up the truth behind a gambling ring and catch their leader, who was right under their noses all the time.

With lots of inspirational K-Dramas out there about goals and dreams, it was hard to mention them, so I decided to share some of my favorite motivational drams with you. 

If you have other suggestions, tell me about them in the comments, and I will gladly add them to my watch list and get back to them whenever I need a push forward. I hope everyone will achieve our goals and shine brightly in their respective positions.