For all athletes and individual people, being able to keep motivation at its peak is the biggest key to performing at your best. Having the drive and the determination to reach a goal, or become the best you can possibly be at your respected task is a feeling that nearly all people have at some point in time. “Motivation is the foundation all athletic effort and accomplishment. Without your desire and determination to improve your sports performances, all of the other mental factors, confidence, intensity, focus, and emotions, are meaningless. To become the best athlete you can be, you must be motivated to do what it takes to maximize your ability and achieve your goals.”1.
One of the biggest keys of motivation is that it is usually really high when the season just begins, or a person just starts out training. Eventually though motivation starts to decrease and individuals will gradually stop working out, or performance for some athletes may start to decline. “In training and competitions, you arrive at a point at which it is no longer fun. I call this the Grind, which starts when it gets tiring, painful, and tedious. the Grind is also the point at which it really counts. The Grind is what separates successful athletes from those who don’t achieve their goals. Many athletes when they reach this point either ease up or give up because it’s just too darned hard. But truly motivated athletes reach the Grind and keep on going.”2.
Being able to stay motivated through “the grind” can be a very difficult task. One way I was able to reach my first short term goal in weight lifting was to keep a calendar in my room on the wall. As soon as I walk into my room it is right in front of me to remind me that I need to workout today. Everyday after I workout I would mark a day off. Visually seeing how many days I have missed and how many days I have continued to work out throughout a month was great motivation for me. Also changing up the routine of your workouts or practices can be a great motivator. Doing to same old thing every day can get tiresome. Mix it up a bit and make things more interesting for yourself or your team.
References
1.Sports: What Motivates Athletes?
Published on the website https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-prime/200910/sports-what-motivates-athletes by Jim Taylor Ph.D.
2.Sports: Motivation To Succeed
Published on the website http://www.drjimtaylor.com/3.0/sports-motivation-to-succeed/ by Dr. Jim Taylor
It is nice to know I am not the only one who occasionally needs some extra motivation. I like your idea of the calendar on your wall. I have something similar I use and check daily. It is an app on my phone that makes big check marks on the days I workout. I try not to let myself go more than 3 days without a work out. Seeing my "big checks" helps me stay focused and lets me know exactly how many days it has been since I did some sort of exercise.
ReplyDeleteMotivation is very key. Although i never need extra motivation to work out (mainly because i used to be overweight), i would recommend the population to have a workout partner to hold keep them motivated as well as hold them accountable.
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