Motivation always answers the question "What for?"
— What am I doing sport for? — What am I putting my body through this for, pushing myself in training? — What am I investing the time of my life in something that may never bring the wins I want for? — What for, what for, what for?..
The "What for?" exercise
Here is a psychological technique straight away — a way of diagnosing how well you understand yourself and what you do in sport.
Take a pen and a sheet of paper and write down your question, starting with the words "What for?.."
Ask it out loud and write down everything that comes into your head.
If nothing comes, your attention may be scattered and your body overstrained or tired.
To tune yourself in to honest, sincere answers it helps to:
- Sit on a chair with a straight back.
- Relax your body.
- Close your eyes.
- Start breathing calmly and deeply through your nose.
- Breathe for about 5 minutes — calmly, deeply, without hurrying.
Important:
— If after this relaxation you find that you have no wish at all to answer the question "What for?", your state may not yet be ready for deep work on yourself. In that case a specialist can help you uncover the true motivation behind your wishes and aspirations.
— If the "confession" to yourself did happen, write down the first question "What for?" and answer it without long deliberation — put down everything that comes to mind.
Once you have answered, ask "What for?" again — but this time about what has appeared on the paper.
Then ask a third "What for?" — and keep going.
There should be roughly seven to nine such questions in all.
It may be that by the fourth question you start writing not about sport and achievements at all, but about hidden motives you had never been aware of, even though they were the ones shaping your decisions and behaviour.
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Why uncover your true motivation?
What is the point and the value of understanding the true motivation behind what we do and behind our sport?
At first glance the question is a simple one.
Most athletes will answer:
— I want to win; — I want to be first; — I want to become a champion; — I want to achieve high results; — I want my parents to see my potential and to be glad about my successes; — I want to earn a living doing what I love.
Yet behind answers that look identical there can be completely different psychological reasons.
One person came into sport for the financial opportunities.
Another was after developing themselves and their qualities.
Someone else took up sport to improve their health.
Someone was diagnosed with ADHD as a child and sport was recommended.
Someone was trying to cope with inner insecurity, distress, anxiety, loneliness or the fear of being rejected.
Someone came into sport to keep a friend company.
Someone was brought along by their parents.
Someone ended up in sport by chance and stayed because they liked it and it became interesting.
For someone else, sport was the continuation of a family tradition — their parents or other relatives did it.
Everyone has their own story. Every athlete is unique in their sporting life.
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Why does motivation matter most in the hard moments?
On the surface, athletes may show the same discipline and the same capacity for work.
But in critical periods — moments of intense strain, defeat and upheaval — it is the differences in motivation that largely start to determine an athlete's reactions and what they do next.
Intrinsic motivation
If an athlete is driven mainly by intrinsic motivation, defeat is more often experienced as a source of experience and a chance to become stronger, more aware and more successful later on.
Such an athlete may find it easier to:
— live through setbacks; — recover after difficult periods; — keep their interest in the training process; — stay in sport for many years; — stay physically active after their professional career ends.
Extrinsic motivation
If the motivation is mainly extrinsic:
— the medal; — approval from those close to them; — recognition from others; — financial reward; — fear of letting themselves down; — fear of letting the coach or their parents down,
then defeat can be a far heavier experience.
Anxiety, emotional reactions, fear of mistakes, disappointment and the wish to distance oneself from sport can all grow stronger.
Little by little, the fear of making a mistake is able to crowd out the joy of training and competing.
Sport stops being enjoyable, and constant psychological strain can affect wellbeing, recovery, concentration and the quality of preparation.
In severe cases a prolonged psychological crisis can affect not only a sporting career but other areas of a person's life as well.
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What does understanding true motivation give you?
This is exactly why uncovering true motivation has not only diagnostic but also predictive value.
Understanding what drives an athlete:
— helps you make sense of their behaviour and reactions under load and stress;
— makes it possible to see the risk of emotional burnout and of possible "ceilings" in their development;
— helps you choose the most effective forms of psychological preparation;
— makes it possible to build stable intrinsic motivation as the foundation of psychological wellbeing both during a sporting career and after it.
True motivation also has a direct effect on the quality of the relationship between athlete, coach and parents.
Understanding your own motives helps reduce the number of internal and external conflicts and build a stable psychological footing that can serve a person not only in sport but in other areas of life too.
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One of the central questions of sport psychology
So the question:
"What am I doing sport for?"
— is one of the most important questions in sport psychology.
Answering it reveals not only an athlete's current goals but the deeper psychological mechanisms that shape their life in sport and beyond it.
The sooner an athlete's true motivation can be understood and a footing in inner values established, the greater the chance not only of high results but of preserving physical and psychological wellbeing — and a steady interest in sport over many years.
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"Order beats class"
There is a well-known saying:
"Order beats class."
In the context of sport psychology it can be read like this:
> Inner discipline built on an understanding of yourself, of your true motivation, wishes and intentions, can be a steadier foundation than natural aptitude, talent, technical and tactical preparation or a stroke of luck on their own.
Experienced coaches and sport psychology specialists understand this well.