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Staying Motivated and Achieving Your Goals | by Troy Wethe
Have you ever started a new activity or been involved in one for a while only to become unfocused or lose your interest in it? If so, this may be because you have not determined your primary reason for participating in your sport or activity. Whether you’re trying to lose weight, learn a new sport or are already involved in competition, it is important to know your underlying motivation. If your motivation comes from outside factors, you may feel pushed or stressed by other’s expectations and probably will not enjoy or continue this activity for very long. All too often you see athletes quit their sport at a very young age at the peak of their success. True success, enjoyment and lasting interest must come from inside and must be consistent with your values. There are many different factors that affect your motivations. You will most likely find yourself fitting one or more of the four major reasons for being active which are listed below.
A). Are you motivated by competition, determined, seek to be the best, and train and compete hard? Then you must be actively involved in testing yourself or you will lose interest. It will be most rewarding for you to be competitively oriented and compete in practices with others and sign up for tournaments, races and other opportunities. For example, instead of spending time going out to practice shooting basketball, get involved in a competitive game. You will find that this will be more fun and effective for helping to develop your skills.
B). Do you enjoy spending long hours perfecting your skills and performance, are disciplined, analytical, and very serious about life? If so, it would be best for you to put your attention into one activity and devote your time to it. Spending too much time in a variety of activities will prevent you from excelling in any one sport and you may become frustrated and lose interest. Spend most of your time practicing until you feel very confident in your ability before testing your skills out in competition. You will feel most prepared and enjoy competition by spending the majority your time practicing your golf swing at the driving range. Focus on a few key golf outings or competitions to peak at to improve your handicap significantly.
C). If a feeling of togetherness and involvement with others motivates you, it will be important to be with others to maintain your interest. The support you receive from others will reinforce you to continue by making you more accountable, less nervous about being alone and will provide you with opportunities to share your experiences with others. Pick a partner to lift or run with or get involved in leagues, team sports and clubs that allow you social opportunities. You might want to join a fitness center that will provide you with many opportunities to meet new people and experience new activities. Your primary motivation will be the social interaction and friendships that you will want to maintain by being a regular member of the fitness center. The benefits of this are that you will get into better shape and be in an environment with people who maintain a healthy and active life-style.
D). Are you active for the sheer joy and pleasure of the moment and participate purely for fun and relaxation? Do you hate practicing, get bored easily if you spend to much time on one activity, and deal with losing in a friendly and laid back manner? If this describes your attitude, then it will be important for you to have many different sports to be actively involved in and to continue trying new activities. Spending long hours practicing and dealing with stressful competition will cause you to lose interest when you stop having fun. It will be best for you to pick activities that fit your schedule and will not occupy too much time. Instead of spending your time indoors biking and running, get outside and find areas that are visually stimulating in which to exercise. Instead of going to the gym to lift, go rock climbing or do other activities in which building muscle strength and endurance are secondary benefits of the activity you are enjoying.
Now that you have a better understanding of what motivates you to succeed and be active I have listed several goal-setting tips which will take you to the next level.
1). The first step is to do a self-assessment about what has been going well for you, what you are struggling with, and what you feel you need to do to be more successful. I strongly recommend that you keep a journal/diary of brief observations or feelings that you have about your exercising/activity.
2). The next step if you're serious about getting the most from your chosen activity is to spend a few minutes brainstorming by writing an athletic biography stating what you would like to accomplish. This will create a vision for you to picture what it will feel like to have achieved your goal. It is also a foreshadowing and a positive reinforcement to use to keep you focussed. You can further reinforce yourself by using motivational quotes on index cards, inspiring pictures of yourself or others participating in the activities you enjoy, watching videos or attending performances of your sport.
3). After reviewing your biography, write down your long-term goal and work backward to develop a plan of short-term goals necessary to move you closer to your big dream. Outline steps, which will assist you in creating a general direction to follow. Your plan can include technical or skill development, physical, mental, social or competitive goals which you would like to accomplish. Make your goals clearly defined and keep in mind the resources and effort, which will be required for you to succeed. For example, I will run the Indianapolis Mini Marathon in less than 2 hours and will need to start training 6 months prior to the race. In addition, determine how you will be able to measure your progress and set up a regular time period for evaluation. Do a practice trial and see how close you are to your goal time and then determine what you need to do to meet your goal. Your evaluations of each workout could be made in a journal on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.
4). When practicing or learning new skills focus on one particular goal during your training sessions. Research studies have shown that an individual’s learning effect is significantly higher when learning one skill a session. Trying to learn more than one skill at a time causes neuromuscular confusion and a reduced learning effect. For example, during a golf lesson, learning how to hit your woods and irons would be far less effective than learning to improve your putting.
5). Always warm up for your practice sessions by taking a series of small, slow, relaxed motions and gradually increasing the intensity, variety and difficulty level. For example, as a tennis pro, I often notice players starting out by hitting hard shots from the baseline without any warm up phase. By doing this, it rushes a person’s technique, mental focus and physical arousal to levels that make it difficult to have a truly effective practice session. No matter what sport you are involved in, it is best for you to start out with activities which are the least demanding of your skills, fitness, strength and concentration. When you have spent a few minutes warming up gradually, you will notice how much easier everything will flow and that you will be able to relax and enjoy yourself more.
The final stage, if you desire, is to test your skills in a competitive situation. If competition is not desired or enjoyed by you, it will be best for you to participate for fun, exercise or as a social activity. So remember to stay true to your values and you will fill your life with many healthy, enjoyable, and exciting activities.•
Troy Wethe has a masters degree in counseling from Purdue University, has coached tennis at the collegiate & high school levels & was a state champion in high school. Troy is a Nationally Certified Counselor, a member of The Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology, and tennis professional at the Indianapolis Racquet Club.
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Have you ever started a new activity or been involved in one for a while only to become unfocused or lose your interest in it? If so, this may be because you have not determined your primary reason for participating in your sport or activity. Whether you’re trying to lose weight, learn a new sport or are already involved in competition, it is important to know your underlying motivation. If your motivation comes from outside factors, you may feel pushed or stressed by other’s expectations and probably will not enjoy or continue this activity for very long. All too often you see athletes quit their sport at a very young age at the peak of their success. True success, enjoyment and lasting interest must come from inside and must be consistent with your values. There are many different factors that affect your motivations. You will most likely find yourself fitting one or more of the four major reasons for being active which are listed below.
A). Are you motivated by competition, determined, seek to be the best, and train and compete hard? Then you must be actively involved in testing yourself or you will lose interest. It will be most rewarding for you to be competitively oriented and compete in practices with others and sign up for tournaments, races and other opportunities. For example, instead of spending time going out to practice shooting basketball, get involved in a competitive game. You will find that this will be more fun and effective for helping to develop your skills.
B). Do you enjoy spending long hours perfecting your skills and performance, are disciplined, analytical, and very serious about life? If so, it would be best for you to put your attention into one activity and devote your time to it. Spending too much time in a variety of activities will prevent you from excelling in any one sport and you may become frustrated and lose interest. Spend most of your time practicing until you feel very confident in your ability before testing your skills out in competition. You will feel most prepared and enjoy competition by spending the majority your time practicing your golf swing at the driving range. Focus on a few key golf outings or competitions to peak at to improve your handicap significantly.
C). If a feeling of togetherness and involvement with others motivates you, it will be important to be with others to maintain your interest. The support you receive from others will reinforce you to continue by making you more accountable, less nervous about being alone and will provide you with opportunities to share your experiences with others. Pick a partner to lift or run with or get involved in leagues, team sports and clubs that allow you social opportunities. You might want to join a fitness center that will provide you with many opportunities to meet new people and experience new activities. Your primary motivation will be the social interaction and friendships that you will want to maintain by being a regular member of the fitness center. The benefits of this are that you will get into better shape and be in an environment with people who maintain a healthy and active life-style.
D). Are you active for the sheer joy and pleasure of the moment and participate purely for fun and relaxation? Do you hate practicing, get bored easily if you spend to much time on one activity, and deal with losing in a friendly and laid back manner? If this describes your attitude, then it will be important for you to have many different sports to be actively involved in and to continue trying new activities. Spending long hours practicing and dealing with stressful competition will cause you to lose interest when you stop having fun. It will be best for you to pick activities that fit your schedule and will not occupy too much time. Instead of spending your time indoors biking and running, get outside and find areas that are visually stimulating in which to exercise. Instead of going to the gym to lift, go rock climbing or do other activities in which building muscle strength and endurance are secondary benefits of the activity you are enjoying.
Now that you have a better understanding of what motivates you to succeed and be active I have listed several goal-setting tips which will take you to the next level.
1). The first step is to do a self-assessment about what has been going well for you, what you are struggling with, and what you feel you need to do to be more successful. I strongly recommend that you keep a journal/diary of brief observations or feelings that you have about your exercising/activity.
2). The next step if you're serious about getting the most from your chosen activity is to spend a few minutes brainstorming by writing an athletic biography stating what you would like to accomplish. This will create a vision for you to picture what it will feel like to have achieved your goal. It is also a foreshadowing and a positive reinforcement to use to keep you focussed. You can further reinforce yourself by using motivational quotes on index cards, inspiring pictures of yourself or others participating in the activities you enjoy, watching videos or attending performances of your sport.
3). After reviewing your biography, write down your long-term goal and work backward to develop a plan of short-term goals necessary to move you closer to your big dream. Outline steps, which will assist you in creating a general direction to follow. Your plan can include technical or skill development, physical, mental, social or competitive goals which you would like to accomplish. Make your goals clearly defined and keep in mind the resources and effort, which will be required for you to succeed. For example, I will run the Indianapolis Mini Marathon in less than 2 hours and will need to start training 6 months prior to the race. In addition, determine how you will be able to measure your progress and set up a regular time period for evaluation. Do a practice trial and see how close you are to your goal time and then determine what you need to do to meet your goal. Your evaluations of each workout could be made in a journal on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.
4). When practicing or learning new skills focus on one particular goal during your training sessions. Research studies have shown that an individual’s learning effect is significantly higher when learning one skill a session. Trying to learn more than one skill at a time causes neuromuscular confusion and a reduced learning effect. For example, during a golf lesson, learning how to hit your woods and irons would be far less effective than learning to improve your putting.
5). Always warm up for your practice sessions by taking a series of small, slow, relaxed motions and gradually increasing the intensity, variety and difficulty level. For example, as a tennis pro, I often notice players starting out by hitting hard shots from the baseline without any warm up phase. By doing this, it rushes a person’s technique, mental focus and physical arousal to levels that make it difficult to have a truly effective practice session. No matter what sport you are involved in, it is best for you to start out with activities which are the least demanding of your skills, fitness, strength and concentration. When you have spent a few minutes warming up gradually, you will notice how much easier everything will flow and that you will be able to relax and enjoy yourself more.
The final stage, if you desire, is to test your skills in a competitive situation. If competition is not desired or enjoyed by you, it will be best for you to participate for fun, exercise or as a social activity. So remember to stay true to your values and you will fill your life with many healthy, enjoyable, and exciting activities.•
Troy Wethe has a masters degree in counseling from Purdue University, has coached tennis at the collegiate & high school levels & was a state champion in high school. Troy is a Nationally Certified Counselor, a member of The Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology, and tennis professional at the Indianapolis Racquet Club.
Join the FREE Fitness Club Now for Weight loss, Strength and Fat Burning Workouts!
BACK TO ARTICLES