Write your search in the input below and press enter.
Esc to close.

The Sports Doc Chalk Talk with Dr. Chris Stankovich

Peak Performance:
Not Just for Sports, for Life

  • Products
    • Toolkits
    • Audio
    • Videos
    • Books
    • Apps
  • Services
  • Chalk Talk
    • Recent
    • Athletes
    • Coaching
    • Sports Parenting
    • Sports Administrators
    • Life
    • Administrators
  • About Dr. Stankovich
  • Testimonials
  • Contact
  • Products
    • Toolkits
    • Audio
    • Books
    • Videos
    • Apps
  • Services
  • Chalk Talk
  • About Dr. Stankovich
  • Testimonials
  • Contact

Hello. Sign In

My Account
  • Login
  • Register
0
The Sports Doc Chalk Talk
Subscribe
The Sports Doc Chalk Talk with Dr. Chris Stankovich
  • Recent
  • Athletes
  • Coaching
  • Sports Parenting
  • Life
  • Administrators
Home / Blog / Understanding Human Motivation: Increase Your Chances for Future Success

Understanding Human Motivation: Increase Your Chances for Future Success

By: Dr. Chris Stankovich | @DrStankovich | Jul 31, 2018

No Comments

Understanding the psychology that drives human motivation can be tricky.  Some theorists, like Abraham Maslow, have suggested that our motivation is fairly predictable and transitions from basic (i.e. finding food and water on a daily basis), to more complex and unique as we strive to find our own unique meanings to life (and become “self-actualized”).  Other behavioral psychologists think in more primitive, reinforcing ways when it comes to motivation — we do things that feel good, and stay away from doing things that cause pain.  The reality is that human motivation is not something that is easily understood, and our reasons for doing (and not doing) things are dependent on many different variables. There are some common denominators, however, and by using what we do know as it relates to human motivation we in turn increase the chances for future success and personal happiness.

The importance of creating challenges & human motivation

When it comes to setting future goals, it’s important to consider how challenging your goals will be constructed.  Create goals that are too simple and goal perseverance suffers.  Ironically, goals that are too difficult also negatively impact goal commitment and attainment.  The key, therefore, is to think about how to create future goals that are challenging in nature in order for motivation to remain at a high level.

When I work with athletes one of the first things I do when evaluating their goals is to talk about the level of challenge they experience with their goals.  In some cases I find that the goals are so basic that goal commitment decreases almost from day 1.  With other clients, I find that their goals are so difficult that they never really believed they could reach them — and put in poor effort as a result.  Getting it just right —- making goals challenging enough to keep focus and motivation high — is something well worth the effort, and will dramatically increase the chances for significant human growth and success in the future.

Locking in to the ZONE

Setting challenging goals offers another important advantage when it comes to maximizing your talents — specifically, it allows you to experience Flow, or as athletes call it, the zone.  Being in Flow allows us to experience better focus, motivation, and resiliency, all qualities that increase the odds that we will reach our future goals.  Having to work hard at something piques our interest, allowing us to concentrate at a high level and finish, or solve, important tasks.

To further this point you might think of a sports example — if you compete against a team that hasn’t won a game all season, it’s doubtful you will have the same focus as you would against a team that is slightly better than you.  Similarly, if you are asked to compete against a world championship team and you are part of a truly terrible team, it’s just as doubtful that you will remain focused very long.  Again, playing against competition that is challenging allows you to experience excitement, motivation, focus, and resiliency.

Final thoughts

Developing challenging life goals and paradigms is well worth our effort if we truly want to reach our full human potential.  Setting future goals that are either too easy or too difficult prevents us from taking full advantage of our mental toughness and abilities, making it very worthwhile to think through goals so that they keep your interest.

drstankovich.com

 

flow, focus, goals, peak, performance, psychology, sport, zone

  • Author
  • Comments
  • Details
Get to Know the Author

Dr. Chris Stankovich

Dr. Stankovich has written/co-written five books, including Positive Transitions for Student Athletes, The ParentsPlaybook, Mind of Steel.

Latest Blog Posts

  • May 6, 2025 Beyond the Numbers: How Overusing Sport Analytics Can Undermine Expert Judgment
  • April 21, 2025 Juggling Sports and Schedules: The Hidden Costs of Playing Multiple Sports
  • April 17, 2025 Earning Power: College Athletes Aren’t Greedy, They’re Just No Longer Free Labor
  • April 16, 2025 Decoding Intuition: What Happens When We Follow Our Inner Compass?
  • April 8, 2025 Precision, Purpose, Performance: The Psychology of Efficiency in Success

PREVIOUS POST

Examining Why Sexual Predatory Behaviors are Happening in Athletics

NEXT POST

Got a Problem That Needs Solved? Try This Approach for Success

Category

Amateur , Athletes , Athletic Counseling , Coaching , Confidence , Goal Setting , Habit Change , health psychology , Mental Toughness , Performance Enhancement , Sport Psychology , Sports Leadership , Sports Parenting , Sports Performance Science , Uncategorized , Youth Sports

Tags

flow, focus, goals, peak, performance, psychology, sport, zone

  • Recent Posts
  • Most Read
  • Beyond the Numbers: How Overusing Sport Analytics Can Undermine Expert Judgment
  • Juggling Sports and Schedules: The Hidden Costs of Playing Multiple Sports
  • Earning Power: College Athletes Aren’t Greedy, They’re Just No Longer Free Labor
  • Decoding Intuition: What Happens When We Follow Our Inner Compass?
  • Precision, Purpose, Performance: The Psychology of Efficiency in Success
  • The Importance of Passion & Purpose for Sport Success
  • How Human Arousal Impacts Sport Performance
  • Bouncing Back: How Coaches Can Help Kids Learn from a Tough Loss
  • Learn Sports Fear Reduction with these 5 Psychology Tips
  • Why Does Your Kid Play Great in Practice, but Not in Games?
  • The Sports Doc on TV

    Catch Dr. Stankovich’s tv, radio, and print interviews and columns here!

    Dr. Chris Stankovich Watch Videos
  • Sport Performance Assessment

    Dr. Chris Stankovich Quickly and accurately test your level of mental toughness in just a few minutes using the Sport Performance Assessment.

    (SPA), an easy-to-use sport psychology system specially designed to help you REACH YOUR FULL ATHLETIC POTENTIAL.

    learn more
  • SportsSuccess360

    Life strategies for performance and character development for coaches, parents, and student athletes competing in youth and interscholastic sports.

    Life Strategies learn more
  • Contact Dr. Stankovich

    1207 Grandview Ave., Suite #218, Columbus, OH 43212

    (614) 561-4482

    Media & General Inquiries

    information@drstankovich.com

    Sales & Product Support

    sales@drstankovich.com

  • About Dr. Stankovich

    • Media
    • Blog
    • Testimonials
  • Products

    • Toolkits
    • Videos
    • Books
    • Audio
    • iPhone Apps
  • Services

    • Athlete Performance Training
    • Parent Community Forum
    • Coach Education & Development
    • Athletic Crisis Response and Intervention
    • Drug & Alcohol Assessment
    • Life Success Programs
    • Counseling & Consulting Services
  • Blog
  • YouTube
  • twitter
  • facebook

All rights reserved © 2025 Advanced Human Performance Systems™

↓ ↓