Sports Psychology For Dummies. Leif H. Smith
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Название: Sports Psychology For Dummies

Автор: Leif H. Smith

Издательство: John Wiley & Sons Limited

Жанр: Спорт, фитнес

Серия:

isbn: 9781119856016

isbn:

СКАЧАТЬ for you and tackle them one at a time. Try to master one goal and then move on to the next one — instead of trying to accomplish four or five things at the same time.

       Failing to set process goals: Setting outcome goals is fun. You want to win the conference championship, hit a certain batting average, achieve a number of assists or goals, or obtain a college scholarship. Outcome goals go straight to our hearts and excite us! The next challenge is thinking about the process of how to make those goals become a reality. What will you have to do to make sure you give yourself the best chance of reaching those outcomes goals? Most athletes stop short of this, setting process goals because the task feels too overwhelming or too confusing. Just remember that if you don’t put your primary focus on your process goals, your desired outcomes won’t happen.

       Leaving your goals in a drawer: Many athletes spent a lot of time before the season setting both outcome and process goals. Some teams even take a one- or two-day team field trip just to focus on the goal-setting process. As the season gets going, however, these goals seem to fade to the background. As athletes and coaches get caught up in the day-to-day grind, they lose focus on their goals and why they want to accomplish them. Goals need to be living, breathing parts of your team mission. You need to tend to them, monitor them, and adjust them throughout the season. Remember to revisit your goals at least once a week, so you don’t lose sight of what you’re working so hard for. Consider displaying your goals where you’ll see them each day, such as on a bulletin board, on the wall in front of your desk, in your locker, and so on.

       Focusing too much on ego and not enough on mastery: When we discuss ego goals, we’re referring to outcome goals, like winning. Mastery goals, on the other hand, are about improving skill and performance, regardless of the outcome. You can easily get wrapped up into thinking too much about ego goals and not enough about mastery goals. When you focus on the process of skill mastery and continual improvement, you’re always getting better — even if it might not produce the win. You’re still improving quantifiably and being successful. And when you’re successful in this way, the wins will follow!

       Expecting perfection: As mentioned, many athletes expect perfection in reaching goals and when they do not reach this perfection (and they never will), they give up and are hyper critical of themselves. This leads to a loss of motivation. You need to accept that you will make mistakes and then decide that you won’t give up when you do so. This is part of the process. Failing teaches you more about yourself and success and helps you build mental toughness and resilience — two other very important mental qualities we discuss throughout the book.

      Stoking the Fire in Your Belly: How to Fan the Flames of Motivation

      IN THIS CHAPTER

      

Discovering the truth about motivation

      

Identifying the different types of motivation

      

Pinpointing your current level of motivation

      

Increasing your motivation

      

Sidestepping pitfalls on the journey to greater motivation

      Motivation is one of the most important and most frequently discussed topics in athletics. Coaches and parents wonder why athletes aren’t as motivated as they’d like, and athletes see their own motivation fall and wonder why. In this chapter, we explore the ins and outs of motivation.

      We start by debunking some common myths about motivation — sometimes you get a better sense of what something is by finding out what it isn’t. Then we introduce you to the two types of motivation: internal and external. We help you assess your current level of motivation. (Motivation levels aren’t static — they rise and fall over time.) Then we give you some specific strategies for increasing your motivation and warn you about some situations that can wreak havoc on your motivation.

      Motivation has been studied and discussed for decades, but myths about motivation persist. In this section, we fill you in on some of the most common of these myths and explain why they’re just not true. When you know what motivation is and isn’t, you’ll be better able to reach your full potential as an athlete, using motivation as a tool.

      You can get your motivation from other people

      There is only one type of “true” motivation and that’s the motivation that comes from within. Other people and experiences can motivate you in a variety of ways, but sustainable motivation will ultimately come from within. Self-motivation — your motivation and the choices you make that flow from that motivation — is completely up to you and within your control.

      Many coaches and athletes look to sports psychologists to be outside motivators for teams — they see providing motivation as the primary responsibility of a sports psychologist. Many athletes believe that their coaches need to motivate them — and if they don’t feel motivated, they blame their poor performance on the coach. The reality is that no one is responsible for motivating an athlete except the athlete.

      

People and experiences can assist you in motivating yourself. But you’re responsible for your own motivation, and you have complete control over how motivated you are.

      Fame and fortune are great motivators

      Fame and fortune — what more could you want, right? These factors can definitely influence your motivation, but if motivation were as simple as fame and fortune, everyone would be motivated to be rich and famous and every rich and famous athlete would be motivated to perform their best all the time.

      Fame and fortune can be motivating factors in sports (just as they are in other areas of life for most people), but they’re never enough to sustain you to achieve and work hard all year. You need an internal passion that takes over in order for your long-term motivation to last.

      Think about the unhappy rich and famous athletes you’ve read about. Research indicates that there isn’t a huge difference in life satisfaction between people who make $50,000 a year and those who make over $1 million a year. When you achieve a certain level of money and fame, СКАЧАТЬ