HOW TO FIND YOUR MOTIVATION WHEN YOU ARE FEELING LOW

Motivation

One of the common topics of discussion in the sports and fitness industry is motivation. There are several theories about motivation, but what I have come to understand about motivation is – the driving force to act upon anything whether it be reading this course to gain a diploma or getting up and fetching a glass of water to quench our thirst. i.e. This is a story of a hockey player from Punjab. Each year in Punjab there is a state championship for selections for the national team. This young chap from Ludhiana who had amazing skills but didn’t have much experience plus poor physical condition. He played wonderfully throughout the tournament, everyone was spellbound by his skills, but every match he would sit out after 50th minute. The committee decided not to select him that year. Disappointed chap went up to the coach and asked – “No matter what, I really want to get in the national team, what should I do?” the coach replied – “I don’t think you have the will power to put in that extra hour which I have been ask you to put in from the past three months. The results are in front of you.” Raging in anger the young lad challenged his coach that he would put in that work and get selected for the next trail. He wanted to prove to the coach that he is worthy enough to be in the national team. This motivated him to wake up early every morning and put in that extra hour of physical conditioning. The next year he was selected for the national team. Here we can see how the player was motivated because he wanted to prove his worth to his coach. Many a times in sports players get motivated because they want to prove their worth to their parents, relatives or friends.

Motives

Motives are the reason behind the driving force to achieve a particular goal. From the above example – the motive is to get a diploma or to quench our thirst. i.e. India wanted to win the cricket world cup to show the world that they are the best team in the world. The motive here is showing the world that they are the best. Motives for sport participation were assessed using the Sport Motivation Scale. Cognitive, affective, and behavioural measures were used to assess contextual motivation outcomes. Linear regression analysis examined the extent to which sport motives predicted motivation outcomes (satisfaction, concentration, and persistence).