Are you intrinsically or extrinsically motivated? Does the thought of beating someone else drive your actions? Or does being the best version of yourself keep you going? Motivation starts from somewhere, that somewhere is action and, in my opinion, when you start, it doesn’t matter what it looks like.
In most cases there is a turning point in a person’s life that gets the ball rolling. Sometimes… it a we are just sick of lying to ourselves, experience a traumatic injury, lose someone we loved, have a midlife crisis, are inspired by someone, or just been thinking about change for a long time.
In all my years of coaching, lifting and life experiences I’ve found that the ego is a great source of energy but it if we don’t realize it becomes your enemy. It drives us to push but at some point, the PR’s, the 1st place victories, the drive to challenge yourself, it all runs out.
In most cases there is a blend of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, this provides you with a stream of consistent effort. Balancing the two can be tricky; with consistent conscious efforts you can tame it and apply it as needed.
Too much intrinsic motivation you may be stuck in your own world. The risk of complacency may set in and you may have less of a drive to push yourself to improve.
Too much extrinsic motivation you may be just turning a blind eye to a deeper problem. No matter how much weight you can move, how many first-place victories earn, getting a pro-card you will be enough for yourself.
If the only way you think you can be successful is achieving an accolade, punching a time card, beating someone else, or being comfortable where you are at, I ask you, what will you do when you no longer have that validation?