Motivation

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To be successful over time, you need to develop both types of motivation.

The two key types of Motivation are:

  • Intrinsic
  • Extrinsic

Intrinsic Motivation

These are the Internal rewards that nobody else ever really sees. They fall into 3 groups:

  • Autonomy
  • Purpose
  • Mastery

Autonomy

This is basically being independent and doing as you wish

Modern day life does a lot to remove this and it is critical to carve out space and time to allow yourself Autonomy.

The two big areas for me in this area are:

  1. Training on my own
  2. Racing on my own

Both these areas let me do what I believe needs to be done and when I think is best. I might be wrong sometimes, but it is still nice to be able to make your own choices.

The opposite can be training in a group. This has a horde of benefits, but someone is always being held back by the slower paddlers, or being pushed into Threshold training whilst trying to keep up with the faster paddlers.

Sometimes you just need some time and space to do your own thing. Don’t feel guilty. It is good training methodology to get the best from different training patterns

Purpose

This could fill a book, but the short answer is that everyone wants to have a greater purpose. A benefit of this is that Purpose is a fairly stable motivator. It is a good foundation for you motivation as it is unlikely to go away suddenly

It is also an area of deep satisfaction when you move that little bit closer to your purpose and if you fulfil it, there are usually a list of even bigger things that will take it’s place next year.

It is quite healthy to have a Yearly purpose and also have a multi year purpose. This balances having something that you can move towards quickly and actually accomplish against not having a purpose to get you through the off season.

  • A typical Yearly Purpose might be:
    • Peak at the biggest race of the year.
    • Enter an ultra distance event
    • Beat your nemesis (my wife hates being called that)

Your Multi-Year purpose is the one that stops you eating too much over the winter holidays

  • A Typical Multi Year purpose might entail:
    • Year on year improvements.
    • Build up a bigger group of friend that you train with
    • Moving from Domestic to national and International races

Mastery

Mastery is in itself very satisfying. All the intrinsic motivators are stable slow burns and do not tend to disappear when you succeed.

You will go through phases of being a student, journeyman, teacher, master.

True mastery often follows a cyclic pattern as described in the Japanese Shu-Ha-Ri principle:

  • Shu: Students learn a technique as well as they can. They follow the rules and take in as much as they possibly can
  • Ha: Students gain proficiency and start to look at the underlying theory, how, when and what-if. They may start to learn other techniques but they are still following the rules at this point.
  • Ri: The students become the masters and they no longer need to follow the rules. They understand what lies beneath every drill and technique, and can mix things up any way that they need to. They are adapting and creating their own techniques that they will probably pass on to others.

This all makes sense and most people stop here, but now comes the good bit. In many Japanese schools the next step is cycling back into being the student (Shu) in an other discipline. This keeps the learning evolution alive and well within an individual, and stops them becoming the old guy that says “I’ve being doing this for 30 years and I know what I’m talking about”

An even purer form is to start the cycle again within your sport and try to think like a Master and a novice at the same time.

You see this in Golfers and Tennis players all the time. They might be the best in the world but they are constantly looking for a Better Serve or a Longer Drive. They will often take an entire season of poor performances whilst dialling in a new technique.

A key point here is that there are often short term dips in performance when you try to improve.
This may dent your motivation but the longer view is that you will come out the other side even better. – It is important to keep the learning mindset alive no matter how experienced you are at things. The constant intake of new skills and knowledge will keep the motivation flames of mastery alive and well. – Nature has an amazing capacity for humbling us. If you are on the sea or a bumpy river, remember that every day is a learning day.

Extrinsic Motivation

These are the External Rewards such as acclaim, victory and respect from others

These are great short term motivators such as in the lead up to a race.

  • Wanting to win a race
  • Be lauded by your peers
  • Not be looked down on by anyone

BUT

  • They are very dangerous to rely on.
  • If they are an add-on to Intrinsic motivation then that’s great.
  • Intrinsically: you may love racing because you are getting quite good at it. This wont change if you come in 2nd.
  • Extrinsically you may be distraught that you came in 2nd in a race you wanted to win.

Summary

The message might be that Extrinsic goals are great at short term motivation to really push your limits, but you need a strong base of Intrinsic motivation to rely on if you don’t meet any of those goals.

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