Have you ever stopped to ask yourself what it is that takes a person from being a couch potato to achieving sporting greatness? It’s not just talent. It’s not physiology or being genetically blessed. And it’s certainly not dependent on the number of hours you spend in the gym, in the pool or in training. It’s actually what’s between your ears right now as you read this: your motivation, your determination, your resilience. The power of your mind. It’s how you process information and your emotional responses to adversity, to disappointment and to setbacks. Find out what it is that really gets you going and you’re well on your way to the becoming the best possible version of yourself that you can be. Motivation doesn’t just affect your sporting performance. You can harness it to supercharge your success in all other aspects of life. And who better to show you how than five-time Olympian and sports motivational speaker Natalie Cook? The article aims to answer the question: how does motivation affect sports performance? Come on, let’s get started!
HOW DOES MOTIVATION AFFECT SPORTS PERFORMANCE?
Motivation is the voice inside your head that drives you to start something … and it’s the fire in your belly that drives you to keep going … and going … and going. And the resilence to never give up. You might have made up your mind to take steps towards a healthier lifestyle or a tougher training regime. Maybe you want to find the courage to accept more of the challenges that life is throwing at you rather than to shy away. Anyone can tell themselves they’ll do better tomorrow. Motivation is what makes doing better a reality and gets you started today!
INTERNAL OR INTRINSIC MOTIVATION—WHERE GREATNESS COMES FROM WITHIN
Motivation doesn’t just appear suddenly out of thin air when you click your fingers. It is a muscle, and needs to be worked! It can come from within with commitment and hard work. It’s best achieved by listening objectively to your internal dialogue and learning how to retrain or rescript it. Consitently change the negatives to positives. Learn how to do this and you’ll find yourself with an incredible mechanism for change and personal development.
EXTERNAL OR EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION—WHERE GREATNESS COMES FROM ELSEWHERE
Sometimes, even if you’re strong-minded and have great internal dialogues, you can find yourself faltering. Negativity can creep in. This is most likely to happen at times of crisis: injury, loss, boredom or exhaustion. Sometimes you have to shake things up a bit and look outwards for new sources of inspiration and motivation. That’s where tapping into the experience of a great sports motivational speakercan pay dividends in terms of improving your performance on and off the field.
MOTIVATED BY SUCCESS?
Some people are driven by the fact that they have a naturally competitive personality. They don’t shy away from a taking a risk because they’re focussed on what lies at the other side of that risk: success! They strive to achieve it and love to compete. They have their eyes set firmly on the prize.
OR DRIVEN BY FEAR OF FAILURE?
Others are more likely to be driven by an intense fear of failure or by anxiety. Sometimes this can even extend to a fear of disappointing or letting down other people. They generally have more risk-averse personalities. They don’t want to take a risk if they think they might fail.
There are dozens of motivational strategies that you can adopt, but they might not be a good fit for you if they don’t sit well with your particular personality type. Identifying your personality type is the first step towards getting your motivation strategy right.
BENEFITS OF FINDING THE RIGHT SOURCE OF MOTIVATION FOR YOU
One of the greatest benefits of finding the right source of motivation for you is that you have control over it. You might not be able to control the weather, your competition, your body’s physical responses to training, but you can certainly control how you respond to the circumstances:
• how you see it
• how you let it affect you
• how you harness it to work in your favour.
Finding the right motivational strategy for you also involves stepping out of your comfort zone and trying something new, something exciting. Something that has a proven track record of working.
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU NEED TO WORK ON YOUR MOTIVATION?
There are many things that can act as indicators that your motivation levels may be waning. You might be finding it much harder to get out of bed and follow through with your training programme or get to the gym. You might find yourself daydreaming when you’re there, or not giving it 100% of your focus. You might even start thinking of lowering your sights and not aiming as high … or throwing in the towel completely. Don’t! You’re not stuck with poor motivation levels. There’s a lot you can do to recharge your motivation and refocus!
Why risk developing a motivational strategy that might not be the best fit for you? Why reinvent the wheel? Natalie Cook has been through what you’re going through and has the tips, tools and techniques that will get you pumped and passionate about your goals and dreams once again.
Want to supercharge your motivation levels? Book Natalie Cook, sports motivational speaker, today!
