Increase Your Level Of Intrinsic Motivation
Have you lost your motivation in the middle of a long season?
Have you ever wondered what you could do to have greater motivation?
There have probably been times where you had difficulty getting psyched up for a competition or pushing through the drudgery of training.
As your season ended, you may have pointed to a lack of motivation as the cause of a sub-par season.
What exactly is motivation?
Motivation is the mental process that initiates, sustains or guides an athlete’s behavior (training, approach to competition, managing adversity, performance).
There are two types of motivation in sports: intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation refers to athletic behavior that is driven by internal or personally meaningful rewards (opportunities to explore, learn, and actualize potential).
Intrinsically motivated athletes participate in sport for reasons such as: the enjoyment of playing their sport, the challenge of competition and reaching new personal levels, skill improvement, exploration of potential, etc.
Intrinsically motivated athletes typically concentrate on skill improvement and their growth as athletes.
Extrinsic motivation refers to athletic behavior that is geared toward earning external rewards or to avoid punishment.
Extrinsically motivated athletes participate in sport for motives such as external rewards (trophies, scholarships, media attention, accolades) or to avoid negative consequences (being benched, falling out of favor with coach, disapproval of parent).
Extrinsically motivated athletes tend to focus on the outcomes of athletic contests.
Which type of reward is better, intrinsic or extrinsic?
Extrinsic rewards are a fundamental component in competitive sports. Could you imagine professional football without a Super Bowl? Or eliminating ESPN to reduce the public attention athletes receive? Or even, if athletic scholarships were no longer offered by college programs?
Extrinsic rewards, when used correctly, can be beneficial to athletes.
However, overuse or over-focus on extrinsic rewards can actually de-motivate you and negatively affect your performance.
When your primary motivation is extrinsic, you may sense a greater amount of competitive pressure and anxiety, compare yourself unfavorably to other athletes, devalue your self-worth, find it difficult to deal with failure, or view your sport more like “work” than a “game.”
Ideally, you want the majority of your motivation to be intrinsic.
If you increase your level of intrinsic motivation, you will be better equipped to focus in the present. You will be able to maintain a consistent level of motivation through the course of the season.
You will be more focused during practice. You will experience less stress when mistakes are made. You will be more confident and you will enjoy playing your sport more.
So, you can greatly improve your performance and experience on the field by choosing more effective motivation strategies.
Try these tips to increase your level of intrinsic motivation:
- Tip #1: Create personally meaningful goals and performance objectives. Challenge yourself to improve one aspect of performance each practice or training session (technique, conditioning, physical skill, or mental skill).
- Tip #2: Participate in sports for the right reasons–because you love to compete! Pursue what you want to pursue. Take back control of your athletic life!
Successful athletes have learned how to stop performance anxiety and perform calmly and with poise.
We’ve created The Composed Athlete Workbook and CD program to help you do this.
Boost Your Self-Confidence With Mental Game Coaching!
Master mental game coach, Dr. Patrick Cohn, can help you or your athlete(s), ages 12 and up, overcome mental game issues with personal coaching.
You can work with Dr. Patrick Cohn himself in Orlando, Florida or via Skype, FaceTime, or telephone. Call us toll free at 888-742-7225 or contact us for more information about the different coaching programs we offer!
What are our students saying?
“WOW!!! What a week I had. I was able to perform with a confidence that allowed my style to shine through–no more entering the arena with that “deer in the headlights” look or feeling. I stopped evaluating myself while I was performing, and I actually left the arena after my patterns feeling like I had experienced a lot of fun. Thank you so much.”
~Julia Dreyer, National Champion Equestrian
For All Athletes – Learn Confidence-Boosting Techniques!
D you have a negative self-image of yourself as an athlete that stifles confidence?
No matter ow positive you try to be, are you unable to shake the doubt that rushes into your head when you size up your competition?
Have you labeled yourself as a loser, poor closer, or mediocre athlete and these labels keep you stuck in a rut of self-pity and indecision?
If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, check out The Confident Athlete!
The Confident Athlete CD and workbook program is a 14-day plan for ultimate self-confidence. This program is ideal for any athlete or coach that wants to discover proven confidence-boosting techniques guaranteed to drastically build self-confidence and improve sports performance.
Learn more about one of our most popular CD programs in The Confident Athlete Series…
The Confident Athlete: A 14-Day Plan For Ultimate Self-Confidence
Check out all of the products in The Confident Athlete Series!
What are customers saying?
“I first purchased The Confident Athlete to see how the program went and immediately saw results. I then purchased the rest of the confident athlete series and have noticed a dramatic improvement in my level of play or should I say consistency. I currently play NCAA Division 1 baseball for Lamar University, and even my coaches have noticed a change in the way that I approach the game. My attitude and confidence at the plate.”
~Tylor Prudhomme (Listen to his success story)
“I am a ASP world qualifying professional surfer and after beginning the ‘The Confident Athlete’ I had an almost instant change in attitude about my own surfing ability and my mindset going into competition. By using the Confident Athlete strategies, my confidence has done a complete 180 degrees. I won a local pro/am a few weeks back, and just had my best result of the year in one the last big events on the world circuit this last week in Brazil! It is my secret weapon!”
~Shaun Burrell, Professional Surfer (Listen to his success story)
For Young Athletes and Parents – Learn More About How to Help Kids Improve Confidence Quickly!
We’ve got a great program for you called “The Confident Sports Kid: A 7-Day Plan for Building Ultimate Self-Confidence.”
The Confident Sports Kid is a 7-day program for sports parents and kids to boost young athlete’s performance, happiness and success… in sports and life!
The Confident Sports Kid is two programs in one. There’s a manual and CD for parents/coaches, and a workbook/CD for young athletes.
Packed with mental strategies that you and your kids can start using immediately, this program teaches your athletes how to identify confidence busters, proactively deal with them, manage expectations that undermine confidence, and mentally prepare to stay confident when faced with adversity.
What’s more, our program teaches you, as sports parents and coaches, how you may be hurting your kids’ confidence and gives you instructions for changing your behavior in ways that will improve your athletes’ performance, confidence and enjoyment.
Learn more about one of our most popular CD programs in The Confident Sports Kid Series…
The Confident Sports Kid: A 7-Day Plan for Building Ultimate Self-Confidence
Check out all of our products in The Confident Sports Kid Series!
What are parents and coaches saying about our program?
“I appreciate the advice to parents as to how to help your child become more mentally resilient to bullying in sports. The specific advice and scenarios are extremely helpful for any child on a team and very helpful in guiding parents, coaches and administrators in how to deal with bullying in sports. I cannot thank you enough for your input, and I am so reassured to know that there are people like you who are writing articles and doing interviews on such timely and important matters.”
~Julie Goot
“Dr. Patrick Cohn and Lisa Cohn are to be congratulated! Together, they offer a wealth of knowledge, information, and practical mental tools for sports parents on the substantial “mental game” challenges and pressures facing today’s young athletes.”
~Marc D. Anderson, LCSW, MGCP, Mental Game Coach
For Mental Coaches – Add More Value To Your Mental Training Programs!
This workbook series was designed for coaches and mental coaches to use with their athletes.
The Athlete’s Mental Edge workbooks complement your existing mental training program. Each of the 15 workbooks in the Athlete’s Mental Edge System teaches your athletes a specific mental skill to improve their performance.
For mental coaches, this system is ideal for between session education.
For sports coaches, you’ll be able to conduct 15 team seminars using the workbook system.
In the Athlete’s Mental Edge workbook system, you receive 15 easy-to-read, practical Mental Edge Workbooks on PDF, as well as 16 coaches’ game plan MP3 audio files.
Athlete’s Mental Edge Workbook System
What are coaches saying?
“I am really pleased with the Athlete’s Mental Edge workbooks – they are fitting in really well with my coaching! I find they offer a great framework for doing workshop sessions. I have also used the workbooks with a few individual athletes – for the younger ones (12 and under). They are giving a good structure and framework to our sessions. The workbooks have worked well with all of them!”
~Kerri Morgan, Mental Game Coach
“I am impressed with the willingness and openness of Dr. Cohn to share all of his assets (intellectual, products, etc.) with the MGCP students. You have developed an incredible model/package for mental training. Even though we are paying for your service, you are passing on a legacy built on your contribution to the world of sports. Thank you for that.”
~Tony Melito, MGCP