Element 1.5 Understand factors affecting personal motivation
Element 1.5 Understand factors affecting personal motivation
The feel good factor
I have always enjoyed taking part in sport and have exercised regularly since I was at school. The biggest thing for me that motivated me to exercise was the way I looked and felt. I was quite small at school and not very confident so the first sport I started doing seriously was Kick Boxing and Karate. I found the fitness for this quite difficult at first especially the flexibility side, but it gave me a lot of confidence and I felt great after every session. I wanted to progress and had the targets of gaining belts (like levels of competency) to motivate me. I was very good at Karate because it is a semi contact sport but I found for the full contact kick boxing I was not big or strong enough. I started weight training when I was 16 to improve my strength and size. I found I was enjoying weight training more than kick boxing so stopped training for martial arts and trained for power lifting instead. I found weight training to be very motivational, it was easy to see the gains being made as the amount of weight I could lift increasing. The physical effects were also obvious as I started to gain muscle mass and lose fat. At the same time I started eating much healthier because other weightlifters and body builders explained to me that eating the right things was the key to building muscle and losing fat. The better I looked and the more weight I lifted the more motivated I got. I entered my first competition when I was 17 and won the teenage category. From their I went on to win a British teenage title 3 years in a row, 2 british junior titles and a European junior title. I was injured in a car accident which stopped me power lifting. I now go running and have started competing in 10k cross country and 1/2 marathons. I am as highly motivated as ever to be successful and find running makes me feel good as well as keeping me in good physical condition. I also enjoy the competition with others and myself. I always time my runs and set myself targets.
Motivational factors can be grouped as extrinsic motivator, (these are factors from the outside) and intrinsic motivators (which are generated internally)
My Extrinsic Motivators |
My Intrinsic motivators |
|---|---|
|
Social enjoyment / training with others Winning trophies and medals Getting into the local news Taking part in competitions Raising money for charity Motivation from my coach Crowd cheering me on |
Physical apearence Improved fitness and stamina Weight loss Beating personal bests Being stronger Feeling healthier Increased confidence |
Diet
You are what you eat in an interesting saying and is true to a certain extent. Someone once said to me if you water a plant it will grow and be healthy but if you don't water it enough it will never grow to its full potential. If you spray weed killer on it it will wither and die. This is an interesting analogy and applies to diet. Your body needs certain things in the right balance in order to grow and be healthy. If you don't get enough of the right things you will not grow to your potential and will not be healthy. If you get too much of the wrong things you will put your body under unnecessary stress and could possibly eventually die. It can be difficult to eat a healthy balanced diet depending on your circumstances. Some people work away from home for long periods of time and stay in hotels and B&B's during the week. In this situation it is not always possible to cook for yourself and seeking out healthy options can be difficult. This is a lifestyle factor which can effect eating a healthy balanced diet.
S.M.A.R.T
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time
Using S.M.A.R.T targets in designing an activity plan
Specific: Setting specific exercise targets eg: Sprint 100 metres at full pace
Measurable: Specific targets must be measurable eg: Time how long the above sprints takes.
Achievable: Your target should be achievable,. Your targets should be adjusted as you improve or be decreased is they are too difficult or unrealistic.
Realistic: Your goal should be realistic, there is no point in setting your target time for the 100 meters the same as the world record.
Time: You should set a time window in which you should reach your goal. If after the allotted time you have not achieved your goal you should go back and evaluate why you were unsuccessful and make changed to your next activity plan.
It is important to review your progress against the targets you have set. Once you have met your targets it is important to set new targets. At the same time it is also important to review targets and make sure they are realistic.