Mental Skills Module 1- Goal Setting & Motivation.

​Outline

Sporting performance is not only dictated by your physical body and sporting skills, but also by your psychological skills - how resilient and determined you are as an athlete, and how optimally you can prepare before, and handle yourself during, competition. To cater for not only your physiological development but also your psychological development, included in your Athlete Development Program are 6 mental skills modules, delivered every 6 weeks for up to 30 weeks. You will receive your first module within your first week with us, as we would like for you to have everything you need to succeed, as soon as possible, whilst not overwhelming you with too much information.

These modules will cover different topics in a progressive matter that will relate to goal setting, motivation, resilience and mental toughness, to optimally prepare yourself for competition and manage any competition anxiety, as well as a range of other topics.

The aim of this program is to highlight the importance of psychological skill development for athletes who want to be successful and to enable you to develop psychological skills for optimal high-level performance. This program is greatly dependent on the effort and attention that you put into your psychological development, I am sure you’ve heard the saying before – "you get out of it what you put into it".

Joining Axis means that you are committed to your performance development, and as just highlighted, performance development is multifactorial – psychological and physiological. So let’s get moving and develop these brain gains!

The first mental skills module is: Goal setting and motivation.  

THIS MODULE IS DUE BY: The end of week 3.

Below are 2 short activities for you to complete to set your intentions and goals for the year ahead. For additional assistance in setting high-quality goals and motivations, please review the short youtube links below.    

Resources

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/HUcGoKAkZMw  

Part 2 - https://youtu.be/Jr35UsaBVA4  

You may also review this link to assist you when creating your SMART goals -   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iyl_v-O_Cds   

  

Mental Skills Module 1- Goal Setting & Motivation

Motivation: the initiative to start a task – the reasons and desires for engaging in a behaviour to achieve a goal  

Dedication: a person's commitment to following through with behaviours and actions that will lead to the accomplishment of that goal 

Goal Setting: 

Three factors interplay together to determine the level of motivation we will develop: 

  1. Goals - the goals we set for ourselves can significantly dictate the type of motivation we develop, the scenarios we seek, and our performance outcomes 

  2. Perceived Ability 

  3. Behaviours 

Success Vs Failure Goals


Task Vs Outcome Goals

Athlete Initial Goal Setting Motivation



Let's set some goals of your own…. 

 

S – specific 

M – measurable 

A - achievable  

R – relevant 

T – time based 


You also want to focus your goal towards success and specific tasks that you can achieve! 

Activity 1 of 2


Motivation: 

There are two types of motivation – achievement motivation and avoidance of failure motivation. 

As we have learnt so far, focussing our attention towards success and achievements enables a higher level of achievement and performance. 

There is also a difference between achievement motivation and competitiveness. 

Achievement Motivation: self-comparison of achievement 

Competitiveness: social evaluation of the comparison 

 Whilst competitiveness may aid performance in highly competitive situations, it does not contribute to a successful and healthy long-term performance mindset and athlete. 

How to Develop Achievement Motivation: 

  • Develop task and approach goals   

  • Want to achieve success rather than avoid failure 

  • High perceived competence in achieving goals 

  • Seeks out challenges 

  • Owns their success and ascribes their failures to external factors outside of their control (knowing you gave it your best) 

  

  

Now let’s discuss your why and refine your motivations…. 


Activity 2 of 2

That brings us to the end of Mental Skills Module 1, Goal setting and Motivation. Your Coach will receive your Activity answers above and will then be able to reconnect you to your goals throughout your journey. You are welcome to discuss them as often as you need.