Photo: Snapped! by Becca Clark
There are 2 types of athletes:
1. Those whose main goal is to seek trophies, awards, admiration, fame, etc. (Extrinsically motivated)
2. Those who truly love their sport & are driven to find out how good of an athlete they can become, how much they can improve, etc. (Intrinsically motivated)
Type 1 athletes have an ego orientation, meaning they get a thrill from receiving recognition, flaunting worlds rings, wearing NCA jackets, etc. Type 2 athletes have a mastery approach, meaning they genuinely enjoy & appreciate everything about the process of striving for personal excellence, regardless of if they win competitions, become point flyer or get a worlds ring.
The ego-oriented type 1 athletes often have increased performance anxiety & become easily discouraged when facing failures or setbacks. This is because their motivation is based on extrinsic factors, like other people’s opinions. After accomplishing their top goal (ex: winning worlds), they may feel emptiness & like there’s nothing left to strive for. If you feel this way after accomplishing your top goal, you’re likely looking in the wrong place to find happiness as an athlete! Happiness should come with the pursuit of personal excellence as you work to get stronger, more flexible, improve tumbling & so on.
The type 2 athletes who take a mastery approach are motivated by intrinsic rewards, such as love for the sport & a pursuit of growth & development. External rewards like trophies & jackets are just icing on the cake for them. They have an outlook of thoroughly enjoying the journey instead of just reaching a particular destination. Athletes with this approach are generally the happiest & most accomplished. If you appreciate the process rather than obsess over the outcome, you attract better results.
To achieve greatness on both an athletic & personal level, your true motivation must always come from within. Participating in & enjoying your sport itself should be the biggest reward.
When you are intrinsically motivated, you feel a genuine desire to work for your goals, constantly improve yourself and see how much you’re actually capable of. You enjoy each step of the process, whether it’s hard or not. Having this type of motivation will bring you the most success and happiness throughout your athletic career (and life).
Here’s how to cultivate this type of motivation:
1. Think about your “why.” Ask yourself why you started cheer, why you continue to do it, why you show up for practice every week, etc. This will give you a sense of purpose and remind you exactly why you do what you do.
2. Make a list of goals for yourself. These goals should be related to you only, not team goals like winning a competition. You might decide that you want to do at least one perfect full run yourself every practice or that you want to level up all your skills by the end of the season.
3. Visualize a moment in your cheer career where you felt proud of yourself for an accomplishment. This could be something like when you first learned a new skill or when you were able to connect your jumps to tumbling. Remember how good it felt and think of your new goals where you can experience that feeling again.
4️. Get inspired. Watch videos of great athletes or pay attention to others in your gym who are where you want to be.
5️. Compare yourself only to your last performance (practice or competition). Make notes of small improvements you see over time to help keep you motivated.
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