Where’s Your Motivation?
Motivation is a vital part of sporting success. If you are an athlete, chances are you have gone through periods of high and low motivation as you went about your training and racing. In my experience, motivation has a lot to do with the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine in our brain is responsible for seeking-behaviors and reward. When we set a goal, it’s largely this chemical responsible for driving all the actions necessary in the process of achieving that goal. Note that the significance of dopamine increasing motivation in the attempt to achieve an end goal, not in achieving the end goal itself.
When it comes to goal setting, there really is a right and wrong way to do it. The way in which you set your goals has a great influence on your motivation and how much effort / belief you put into achieving them along the way. Goals too easy may leave you feeling uninspired, while goals too big may leave you overwhelmed. Setting goals that are slightly out of reach is the best way to stay in a flow state, where you are challenged and engaged.
One thing I have noticed about setting big goals that are sometimes years ahead of you, is that if you let that be your main source of day-to-day motivation, it can be a recipe for let down and overwhelm. When you are constantly comparing yourself to where you want to be in a couple years from now, it’s easy to let the short term set backs get to you more than they should. You could be making progress, but comparing yourself to an unrealistic level of progression—that is—a point not where you are right now, will make you feel like you’re failing.
It is beneficial to set long-term big goals as they drive you to be better and remind you about what you are working for. They also keep you accountable to the fact that you are not there yet and keep you looking for ways to be better. However, your motivation should not live in the striving-for-you-biggest-goal energy, but rather the process goals that are right in front of you. It’s better to have your motivation tied up in how you’re going to execute your next training session or your next race than it is to be tied up in where you want to be in 5-10 years. These long term goals can be a deep rooted source of motivation that keep you going when the short term gets tough, but it should not be at the forefront of your mind on a day-to-day basis.
One way I thought about this on a training ride one time was…imagine you were hiking across the country to find larger body’s of water and the only way you knew how to get food was to fish. Your end goal is to get to the other side of the country where the ponds and fish are bigger, but you will need to make stops along the way and fish the smaller ponds/lakes right in front of you to survive and to keep moving forward. If you tried to cast your reel all the way into the pond across the country, not only would you miss the bite, you wouldn’t even be able to see your bobber move. Imagine the letdown in motivation that would happen thinking you’re going to catch the biggest fish right away, only to realize over time you’re catching nothing. You can’t catch a goal you are not in position to achieve.
Meanwhile, you’d sit next to the pond in front of you bummed that you’re not catching anything, despite there being great opportunity within feet of where you are standing. The point is, fish the pond you’re in before you move forward. Be motivated for the pond that’s right in front of you and trust that you can get to the next one. Stay focused on the goal that is right in front of you, as it is a stepping stone to the next level.