Motivation in sports and performing contexts

Setting foot on the mats

Sport and business have similarities, one of them is competitiveness.

When you are in a competing environment, there is a need for motivation, highly so.

While practicing brasilian jiu jitsu, I try as much as possible to get into the arena, and compete.

Imagine yourself in a fighting tournament, setting foot on the mat. You need to find the motivation to beat your opponent. He/She is there, right in front of you. In a matter of minutes, only one of you will get a chance to continue to the next round.

The other, will go take a shower.

Mental strength has a major impact on your performance in such situations. Moreover, it is as much a battle of fighting skills, than of mental ones.

If you have a drop in motivation at this moment, there is a higher chance of loss.

Recently my results have not quite been there yet, and somehow I was wondering if the cause wasn’t partly a lack of motivation.

A number of questions have been rising following my latest loss:

• How does motivation work (scientifically)?

• How can I can change my approach to boost motivation?

• Is there a way to systemise the boost in motivation, like an engine?

A definition

What is motivation: 

In a fight you’ll certainly have an extrinsic motivation: your opponent will advance and try to submit you as fast as possible. So you’d better get some kind of sense of urgency there.

In this case, I wouldn’t worry that much on extrinsic motivation because we are surrounded by them daily:

• a competitor in a RFQ,

• a boss,

• a colleague,

• a clock

• …

Somehow what seems to me the most difficult to crack is the mechanics around the process “taking place within the individual”, the intrinsic motivation.

What does Science say?

Oxfordre.com has a paper detailing two theories

Achievement Goal Theory (AGT)

Some quotes to define the theory:

• an individual’s investment of personal resources such as effort, talent, and time in an activity is dependent on the achievement goal of the individual.

• assumes that the individual is an intentional, rational, goal-directed organism and that achievement goals govern achievement beliefs and guide subsequent decision making and behavior in achievement contexts

• [AGT goal of action is] the desire to develop and demonstrate competence and to avoid demonstrating incompetence

Self-Determination Theory (SDT)

Quotes from the paper, mentioning Deci & Ryan, 1985:

• individuals will develop and function most effectively when their immediate psychosocial environment provides support for their basic psychological needs. 

• Three basic psychological needs have been identified, namely, the need for autonomy, the need for competence, and the need for relatedness

• When all three needs are satisfied within an activity, individuals will feel a high degree of autonomous and self-determined motivation

SDT for the long run?

From here, there’s a fork in the road for the two theories from what the paper states. You can effectively use both theories based on your view on motivation:

• motivation comes from satisfying basic needs (SDT)

• motivation comes from demonstrating task or ego-competence (AGT)

Personally, I relate more on the SDT, because it seems to me that it goes wider than just getting satisfaction from achieving tasks (understanding from AGT).

I am not sure you can feel satisfied by only achieving tasks that you write off your to do list.

At least, in the long run you need to align tasks with a goal, a vision, hence the basic needs. The vision can be personal or can be professional, I believe it works in the same way.

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Ideas for future articles on related subjects

• Wheel of autonomy

• Neuro linguistic programming

• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Sources

oxfordre.com