Mental Mondays (3): Motivation

Week 3 of 50: Okay, we are doing good here, yea? Last week we did an exercise to find or write down our DIRECTION. This should have pumped you up a little. Do you feel like you have a purpose going into this season? You should. I do! Soon enough we will start to break down that Direction into actual goals, but for now, be happy with knowing where you want to go!

People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well neither does bathing - that's why we recommend it daily. - Zig Ziglar

This week we are going to talk about motivation. It's a little early to discuss this, but there is a reason. This time of year is classic for feeling in a lull. You might feel like you are lacking motivation. I want us to remember that feeling. It's cold outside and many of us have been putting in lots of time on trainers and treadmills. We have forgotten what it feels like to do a long run in the warm sun. This is the perfect time to talk about Motivation.

Motivation is the inner striving of individuals that effect behavior, the ability to initiate and persist at a task, and to act with purposeful behavior to achieve gratification. Motivation is intrinsic, it comes from within, and it will completely determine the role that triathlon plays in your life. Your motivation will effect every aspect of your performance, and in truth it is the one factor in your sport that you have complete control over.

Take a quick assessment of your motivation level. Why do you compete in your sport? Are your trying to satisfy outer desires or inner desires? Nobody has ever made it to Kona because they wanted a hot body, but every year it gets a lot of people started down that path. What desires deep down in you are you trying to satisfy by competing? Take a snapshot of this, write down some words for yourself to reflect on in the future. You may have a better idea of the answers when you are mid season, but knowing what gets you out the door to train in the winter months is key.

It is inevitable in every athletes season that motivation will wane. This can be a result of over training, monotony in training, injury, illness, or like now-a-days the WEATHER. It can also happen “just because”. Let’s start a list of actions we can do to increase or pull back our motivation. If you are feeling low now, start a list and as your come out of it, note what helped bring you back above the water. What aspects of your life and training get you “all hyped up”, include those so that you can use them at a later date to pull up your motivation level. Also include things like rest, massage, more sleep, etc if those have a positive effect on your motivation. If we are getting close to an important race and we can tell that our motivation is on a downhill slope, I want us to be able to pull out this list and use it when we need it most. I would hate to get to that point without any resources, and thus compromise an important race.

People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents. - Andrew Carnegie

Lastly, help your friends! Leave a comment on my blog about what gets you all hyped up about your sport. Let's use this post as something we can look back on. I'll start!