What Motivates the Pursuit of Athletics

What Motivates the Pursuit of Athletics?

As athletes we ask ourselves a lot of questions. How can I get faster? How can I improve my ability to recover from hard training? What do I want out of this race or event? What is my next new piece of equipment? A lot of these questions have simple answers. It seems though that the simplest question “Why?” could be the hardest to answer. Why do we push ourselves to and even beyond our limits? Why do we risk injury or death? Why do we get up in the dark of the morning in the rain and go, go, go? Is the answer just pertaining to health and general enjoyment of fitness? Personally, I don’t think so. I think the human spirit is one that strives and deep-down wishes to grow. I think that as athletes, there is something in exercise and training that fulfils and completes us as people and without it we lose our focus and we fear our lives are slipping away. In training, not only do our bodies change and adapt, not only do we get stronger and healthier, but we also grow as people.

We have to ask ourselves if this motivation in ourselves is healthy. Sure, personal growth is vital to success as an individual but if we allow ourselves to become too deeply invested in our own personal growth; we lose sight of things beyond ourselves. Once the external pieces of life start to slip, you may find that your athletics have no foundation on which to stand. If the next goal or triumph is all you see and you sacrifice precious time with your partner, your family, or your friends, what does that victory really mean? With whom do you share it? There is only so much cheering you can do for yourself. What happens if all that disappears and then you fall short, you don’t win, or you sustain an injury that derails months of training? That is a lonely place to be, injured or burnt out with no support system. That is why we must ask ourselves “Why?” and answer honestly. We need to pick apart the things deep inside us that make us go out there day after day and make sure that our motivations are ones of joy, love, and gratefulness towards the ones in our lives who make us happy because it is them who make the victories worth fighting for.

What if your motivations are selfish? We have all been there I think. We have all used anger, regret, guilt, or any other bad life experience as a reason to push hard and harder still. I gave myself tendonitis and overtraining syndrome from far-too-aggressive weight training. It took nearly a year to recover. And what a hard, discouraging year that was. If you find yourself in that place, slow down. Think deeply about how you can reframe your selfish motivations in a positive way. Are you trying to escape something? That is okay, but where are you trying to get? Try to find a soft place to land. Be grateful towards the people in your life and train with joy.