Before we get to the practical stuff, I’d like to point out a key difference between feeling motivated and motivation.
Feeling Motivated vs. Being Motivated
Feeling motivated is a thing of the short term, a lot closer to elation or enthusiasm. It is a cocktail of emotions and sensations we experience that makes it easier for us to get into action. Sometimes this feeling can be particularly intense, and we commonly know it as being “psyched.”
Many people believe they lack motivation, but it’s the feeling they miss.
Motivation is a much broader, and a lot more technical term. It represents the reasons why we do what we do.
A Simple Motivational Framework
All behavior is motivated by something.
We’re constantly under the influence of various factors nudging our behavior in different directions. It’s as if you were one of those inflatable sky dancers people think help them sell mattresses. Trying your best to rise and stay upright, while the winds of ulterior motives keep knocking you around.
If you can fully understand the factors affecting your behavior, you can create interventions to fortify your motivation.
In doing so, you’re setting yourself up for success because it’s more likely you’ll end up doing the right things over longer periods of time. AND enjoying the process.
Motivators are factors that end up causing a specific behavior, including things such as emotions, needs, desires, beliefs, values, reflexes, anticipations, hope… They can be triggered both from within as well as from the outside world by certain situations or behavior of other people.
How strong of an effect these factors will have on our behavior is individual. Fear of heights can be a powerful motivator to one person, but it could also be completely irrelevant to another.
The key to using motivation for improving as a player is understanding what are the motivators affecting your desired behavior. Once you can do that, it all comes down to nurturing the positive motivators while removing or side-stepping the negative ones.
How to Create Your Own Motivational Framework
Using nothing more than self-reflection, anyone can make their own personalized motivational framework.
Step 1 – Pick a behavior or a group of behaviors you’d like to encourage
(Q: What do I want to do?)
Step 2 – Write down reasons why you’d like to encourage them (ie. positive motivators)
(Q: Why do I want to do this?)
Step 3 – Write down reasons keeping you from engaging in those behaviors (ie. negative motivators)
(Q: What’s stopping me from doing this?)
Step 4 – Come up with ways to overcome or side-step these challenges
(Q: What can I do to create a scenario where this isn’t an obstacle?)
Step 5 – Apply and review
(Q: Did I do it today? If not, why? What can I do to create a scenario where this isn’t an obstacle?)
Here are some examples to help demonstrate the exercise further
Example 1
- Communicate more on the pitch
- I want to be a better leader
- I don’t want teammates to hate me because I’m nagging
- I can focus on the positives and practice giving constructive feedback
- *Apply and review
Example 2
- Show up early for training
- I want to set myself up for success
- I hate getting up early
- I can move my prep to the evening before and make it easier for me to get ready
- *Apply and review
Example 3
- Learn more about tactics
- I want to understand the game on a deeper level
- I don’t have a lot of time
- I can combine learning with other activities (eg. listening to audiobooks while shopping/commuting/eating…)
- *Apply and review
Example 4
- Spend more time doing prevention
- I want to protect myself from injuries
- I find prevention work too boring
- I can look for ways to make a game out of it and make prevention more fun
- *Apply and review
Choosing a Behavior (Step 1)
You can pick any behavior or a group of behaviors you’d like to encourage. Virtually anything you can think of that will help you improve as a football player.
If you can’t think of anything in particular or have several ideas but you’re struggling to prioritize, it’s probably best to consult your family, teammates, and coaches. Most of them will speak from their unique perspective, but if their stories overlap, it’ll be easier to narrow down your choices.
And if you need more inspiration, you can always try analyzing the stories of some of the most successful footballers. There are plenty of autobiographies and documentaries you can look into to find what they claim was a huge game-changer in their career. Just because it worked for Dennis Bergkamp, doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll work for you as well. But if you can relate to their struggles, their solutions might be helpful for your career too.
How to Reframe Positive and Negative Motivators (Steps 2 and 3)
When defining the positive and negative, it’s best to use prompts starting with “I want…” and “I like…” as well as “I don’t want…” and “I don’t like…”
Why is reframing these motivators so important? Because it reminds you that your behavior is your responsibility.
When you put your behavior into focus, it’s much easier to own it and figure out how to change it. The solutions CAN include other people. But the responsibility for your behavior (even when provoked) is your own.
Coming Up with Ways to Overcome Negative Motivators (Step 4)
Now that you have an idea of what could be preventing you from doing the things you want to do, it’s just a matter of getting creative with the solutions.
Sometimes, the answer will be obvious. At others, you’ll need to do some testing.
If you feel stuck for answers, you can always consult people you trust to bounce some ideas off of. You can try brainstorming as many ideas as you can and test the ones that make the most sense.
Completing this step will also help you find ways to improve self-discipline for situations where you’re looking to overcome or side-step temptations.
Review and Update Your Motivational Framework Regularly (Step 5)
It’s usually very hard to list out all of the crucial negative motivators using only self-reflection. And you can’t know for sure if the solutions will work until you put them to the test.
Setting up your motivational framework will require some trial and error. But you don’t have to get it right on the first try. When you do notice something you’ve missed, or a solution isn’t really doing the trick, update your framework and try again.
There’s an added benefit that comes from reviewing your motivational framework.
Once you write up all the positive factors in one place, it becomes kind of a motivational cheat sheet. Every time you review the framework, you’ll read out the items and it’ll help bring the positive motivators into focus.
Why This Works
There is no magic to this very basic framework. The secret is in doing the work.
You can find solutions quicker the better you are at understanding yourself or the situation you’re in. And if you’re struggling to find the answers, you can consult friends, family, teammates, coaches, or a sports psychologist.
Find the time to sit down with yourself for 10-15 minutes, and write down ideas of how you can help yourself do and be better.
Want an easy one to start with? Go meta! Try using this motivational framework to get yourself to use motivational frameworks more often!
Leave a Reply