Self-motivation is the holy grail of success in sports, particularly for young athletes. Nearly all elite athletes have self-motivation. However, for less mature athletes who still rely on external motivation from coaches and parents, self-motivation often comes and goes with the wind.
Therefore, as a parent or coach it’s easy to think that self-motivation is the missing ingredient an athlete needs to jump levels from good to great when they are still maturing. However, although self-motivation is an important ingredient, it’s not the most important ingredient for jumping levels. In other words, self-motivation alone is not enough when it doesn’t proceed several other key ingredients.
Among those other key ingredients there are 5 in particular that are necessary before self-motivation becomes the penultimate factor:
- Mastery of the fundamentals.
- Maximizing an athlete’s strengths using a growth mindset.
- Minimizing the impact of an athlete’s weaknesses.
- A supportive environment.
- A coach who understands and facilitates solo practice and deliberate practice.
So, here is the takeaway I want to leave with parents and coaches of athletes. When an athlete is still not fully self-motivated on a day-to-day basis, don’t let this be the excuse for why they aren’t improving. Instead, evaluate what you can do to enhance these other 5 ingredients, then take advantage of every opportunity you can find in these areas. If you do this, over time self-motivation will take care of itself as the athlete continues to mature.