Articles

Maintaining Motivation

Athletes take pride in their performances. It could be running their fastest, throwing their farthest, lifting their heaviest. Most athletes appear (and are) very motivated. However, there is a phenomenon that occurs with some athletes when they finally achieve a long awaited goal. It can feel anti-climatic or even lead to a slight depression or loss. Sometimes it happens after completing your first marathon or competing in Boston or setting a long awaited personal best. Likewise, as we age or due to injuries, we find ourselves less “competitive” than we once were. We find that we cannot perform to the levels we once did, regardless of the training we do. This can lead to similar feelings which greatly impair motivation to continue.

For many athletes this reality becomes like mourning a death – the loss of anticipation, preparation or the death of their youth and physical superiority. Many athletes have a difficult time adjusting to these feelings of loss, aimlessness or depression. Some move on to other sports, some muddle through and others retire, unable to face competition as they once did. The question is what we do when we lose “competitiveness” and motivation once we have either achieved something special or we cannot perform as we once did. Whether it is achieving something you’ve worked hard at or you’re later on in your competitive life, let me suggest some approaches to try.

1. Stop for change. If you run, have you ever just stopped and looked, smelled, felt your surroundings? At the pool, have you ever stopped your workout just to feel the water, hear others around you, or watch clouds overhead? You may see, hear and feel things you never have. There can be hidden treasures you have been too busy, too fast or too competitive to appreciate.
2. Get away for awhile and maintain physical activity for your health. That is a new focus. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle and being careful not to let the waistline grow.
3. Get your focus. Set some new interesting goals.
4. Lose your focus. Sometimes it is best NOT to have goals. Take a break. Try new sports.
5. Choose your focus. Focusing on the past doesn’t help the present or future.
6. Define competitiveness for yourself. Then, endeavor to have that outlet in other ways or areas of your life.
7. Stop competing in the same races each year, the same distances or locations. Choose some place new to go. Choose unusual races. Choose unusual events and locations.
8. Make a race an excuse for a long weekend “vacation” instead of an uptight weekend of trying to create the “perfect” race.
9. Re-establish benchmarks if you aren’t as good as you once were. Set personal bests for a given year instead of lifetime. Many sports have masters (generally over 40) or seniors (generally over 50) categories. Be competitive against your age group.
10. Use age-graded tables. WAVA established wonderful age-graded tables for track and field athletes. You can compare you efforts today to when you were in your 20s. You can even play with data from races and find how you would place with age grading.
11. Coach someone. This shift from being the athlete to the mentor also requires a shift in how you get your satisfaction. Much like in business, a manager needs to take pride in others hands-on task successes versus doing it himself or herself. This shift requires giving information freely to get someone to perform. One way to keep motivated is to evaluate how well you get others to reach their goals. (Just be careful not to live through them however. This would be the proverbial Little League Parent syndrome.)

In the end, downtimes can be very good for us. It can be the “pause that refreshes”. It doesn’t mean we will remain unmotivated. It means that we need a new focus. It is a new beginning when we choose to adapt.