Staying Motivated When It Gets Tough

Are you training for a competition, trying to improve your skills, or simply staying active for personal health?

You can’t be a great athlete without consistent training. You can’t be be healthy without a good diet and regular exercise. You can’t achieve your objectives without working towards them. But how can you be motivated to do all of that? It’s not easy.

In this blog article, we will talk about what is motivation, some of the theories used to understand motivation, and numerous key tips to stay motivated!

What is Motivation?

Motivation can be defined as the direction and intensity of one's effort (Sage, 1977). It refers to how much effort an individual exerts toward a particular activity and what draws them to what activity in the first place.

• Direction of Effort: It refers to what the individual is attracted to. Are they interested in soccer or do they prefer alpine skiing? Different people are motivated to seek out different situations.

• Intensity of Effort: It refers to the amount of energy the individual is ready to spend in a particular task. Even if two individuals are interested by the same activity, one might put more effort into it than the other.

Types of Motivation

There are two main types of motivation:

• Intrinsic Motivation (Deci & Ryan, 1985): Intrinsic motivation comes from within. It is the drive to engage in an activity because of the enjoyment, excitement, or satisfaction it brings. It even includes the thrill of competition, the joy of mastering a new skill, or simply the feeling of having fun. Intrinsic motivation is by far the most powerful type of motivation!

• Extrinsic Motivation (Deci & Ryan, 1985): Extrinsic motivation comes from external rewards. These include trophies, money, praise, or recognition. Extrinsic motivation can help maintain motivation or start a new behaviour, but it is less powerful than intrinsic motivation for long-term motivation.

Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985)

The Self-Determination Theory is one of the most popular theory of motivation. Itexplains that motivation is not just intrinsic or extrinsic. Motivation exists on a continuum where at one end, you have intrinsic motivation, driven purely by internal factors, and at the other end, you have amotivation, when you have no desire to participate at all.

The Self-Determination Theory refers to three basic psychological needs. These needs play a significant role in fostering motivation and overall well-being.

• Autonomy: Feeling in control of one's actions and decisions

• Competence: The need to feel capable and skilled at any activity

• Relatedness: The desire to feel connected to others, such as teammates or a community

By fulfilling these needs, individuals can shift towards a more intrinsic type of motivation.

Need Achievement Theory (Atkinson, 1974; McClelland, 1961)

The Need Achievement Theory suggests that motivation is driven by the desire to succeed and the fear of failure. The balance between these two factors influences how hard a person trains and how much effort they put in their performance.

• Individuals who are considered to be high in achievement motivation are more driven by the desire to succeed.

• Individuals who are considered to be low in achievement motivation focus more on the fear of failure. These individuals are more likely to participate in an activity if the probability of success is high and the reward is interesting.

Achievement Goal Theory (Nicholls, 1989)

Achievement Goal Theory explains that motivation is influenced by how individuals perceive their abilities. Athletes can either be task-involved (focused on learning, mastering skills, and self-improvement) or ego-involved (focused on demonstrating superiority over others).

• Athletes who are task-involved typically show greater persistence, enjoyment, and intrinsic motivation because they measure success against their own progress rather than against others.

• In contrast, ego-involved individuals may focus more on comparison, and their motivation can fluctuate depending on how they perceive their ability relative to others. When they perceive their abilities as being higher than others, they will feel more motivated. The opposite is also true. If individuals who are ego-involved perceive their abilities as being low, their motivation will drop and negative behaviours such as avoiding challenges, lack of effort, and reduced persistence are predicted.

Staying Motivated When You're Not Feeling It

It's normal to experience days when you're just not feeling motivated. Motivation is not always going to be 100%. When you're not motivated, discipline becomes key. And you know what? Sometimes getting started on something you need to do can help you find that extra motivation. You don’t always have to wait to feel motivated to start, sometimes the motivation will come afterwards!

But, here are some tips to help you stay motivated:

• Goal-Setting: Goal-setting is useful to increase motivation (Ulmer & Burton, 2010). You should set both short-term and long-term goals that are specific, measurable, realistic, and challenging (Weinberg, 2014). You can also try to use these goals to create some challenges for yourself. If you feel less motivated to train because it is not the same as playing a full game, try to transform your training into a competition!

• Consider the Goldilocks Rule (Straker, Mathiassen & Holtermann, 2018): Aim to challenge yourself just beyond your current abilities. If the task is too easy, you will get bored. If it is too hard, you will get frustrated. Either way it will affect your motivation. So aim for the perfect balance and it will help you stay motivated.

• Track Your Progress: Keep track of your performance! Whether it's improving a personal best or mastering the technique of a new skill, try to find tangible proof of your progress. This will help you see how far you've come and stay motivated to continue.

• Accountability: Find someone to stay accountable to. It could be a coach, a training partner, or a team. Social support and external accountability can make it harder to skip workouts. It can help you stay disciplined when the motivation is low.

• Add Variety and Professional Guidance: Keep your workouts varied and interesting! Doing the same routine day in and day out can quickly become monotonous and lead to burnout. You can try to switch things up, try new exercises, and even new sports! Another key factor is working with a professional trainer or coach. When your workouts are designed by someone who knows what you need, you can be sure that you’re doing the right things to reach your goals. Professionals also know how to push you beyond your comfort zone, ensuring that you’re constantly challenged. This can prevent plateaus and help maintain the excitement in your fitness journey.

• Find Your Why: Connect with the personal reason why you are doing whatever it is that you are doing. Why did you ever start in the first place? Often it is because of an intrinsic reason. The problem is that we often get confused and forget about this intrinsic motivation because we think about the pressure or the expectations of others. So if you can reduce these irrational belief, it can help you feel a higher sense of intrinsic motivation and like we said earlier, that's the most powerful type of motivation.

• Extra Tip: Do Your Own Motivational Video: Studies have examined the impact of personal motivation video on athlete (Tracey 2011). A personal motivation video is a video filled with video footage, still photos, and music. It should last around 3 minutes and is personally created for the individual. It is a video that can be watched and listen to before hard training or when feeling unmotivated. It was found to help athletes find the extra boost to get them started! The more personal the video, the more effect it had!

Takeaway

Motivation isn't static. Some days you'll feel motivated and some other days you won't. But in order to perform at our best or achieve your objectives, we need to stay disciplined and consistent, even on the tough days. Understanding the different types of motivation and the theories behind this concept can help to become self-aware of our tendencies. By setting the right goals, tracking our progress, finding an accountable partner, and connecting with our intrinsic motivation, we can facilitate the process!

Need Professional Guidance for Your Training?

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References

Atkinson, J. W. (Ed.). (1957). A theory of achievement motivation. D. Van Nostrand Company.

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York, NY: Plenum.

McClelland, D.C. (1961). The Achieving Society. NY: Van Nostrand.

Nicholls, J.G. (1989). The Competitive Ethos and Democratic Education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Sage, G. (1977). Introduction to Motor Behaviour: A Neurophysiological Approach. 2nd edition. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley.

Straker, L., Mathiassen, S. E., & Holtermann, A. (2018). The 'Goldilocks Principle': designing physical activity at work to be 'just right' for promoting health. British journal of sports medicine, 52(13), 818–819.

Tracey, J. (2011). Benefits and Usefulness of a Personal Motivation Video: A Case Study of a Professional Mountain Bike Racer. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 23(3), 308–325.

Ulmer, G., & Burton, D. (2010). Applied mental skills training interventions in sport: A review of the literature. Unpublished manuscript, University of Idaho.

Weinberg, R. S. (2014). Goal setting in sport and exercise: Research to practice. In J. L. Van Raalte & B. W. Brewer (Eds.), Exploring sport and exercise psychology (3rd ed., pp. 33–54). American Psychological Association.