What to do When a High School Athlete is Not Motivated by Their Goals
All high school athletes don’t play sports for the same reason. Some have the drive to be elite while others only want to get a varsity letter. Nevertheless, regardless of what end of the spectrum a high school athlete is on, every athlete needs motivation. Moreover, their goals, whatever they may be, are the primary source for that motivation.
However, the funny thing is teens have a bad habit of saying they want something without following through. Or as I like to say, having million-dollar dreams with five-dollar habits.
It is a mistake to label this as being lazy. Laziness is an excuse. Furthermore, as an adult in a high school athlete’s life, your job is to not make excuses for them. Instead, diagnose and help them solve the root cause of their motivation problem.
Motivation is the energy to act. Therefore, if an athlete’s goals don’t energize them to act, then you must start here. This requires revisiting their goal setting process.
When an Athlete’s Goals Aren’t Energizing
To start, begin with self-awareness. Are they setting goals that take into consideration their strengths, personality, and mindset? For example, if being highly competitive is one of their strengths and their practice process is more cooperative then they have a problem. This is likely the break point of why their goals aren’t providing them with motivation. Adding a training partner to compete with on a day-to-day basis or a more competitive practice environment may be what they need to jump start their motivation. Or it may be the opposite of this. The athlete may need more cooperation than competition, or something else that adopts their personality strengths.
Secondly, if you pass the first break point ask the athlete if their goals are 100% self-serving or will achieving their goals somehow make the world a better place for others too? Pursuing goals that are both beneficial to you and to others are more motivating than pursuing a goal that is 100% self-serving. For example, if achieving a goal will also be the means for providing help to the athlete’s family or bringing prestige to their school then their motivation will be higher than if the goal was just to win a state title for themself for example.
Finally, if the athlete’s goals pass these first two break points, then consider if their goals are too big or too far off into the future? Small attainable daily and weekly goals are more motivating than big goals that take months and years to achieve. As a result, if the athlete doesn’t break down their big goals into the elements of measurable progress, then their motivation will suffer. This is what I like to call creating a goal progression.
If you make sure an athlete’s goals meet these three requirements, then you can be sure that their goals will provide them with energy to follow through.