Intrinsic Motivation: The Key to Conquering Heavier Weights

By: Kumastrength

The light dims.

You crouch down, touching the cold metal barbell that pricks against your skin. Oblivious to the people around you, your heart increases its tempo as it plays your battle song. Your mind shuts down, and the only thing standing between you and lifting the barbell is YOU. The days, months, and years you prepared for this, come down to one single decisive moment that only you could decide the outcome to. You understand this.

You understand that while your family, friends, and your significant other try their best to support you, no one will lift this weight, but you. Only you.

You have to realize that you are an actor and not a victim of the events around you. Only then will you realize how much power you must influence the happenings around you.

Master your heart. Master your mind. Only then will your body follow.

Lim attempting a Clean

BE AN ACTOR

As I progressed into my athletic career. I realized that the most important thing in being a successful athlete is that we must all realize that we are actors of the events happening around us, and not a victim that life conspires against. While it is true that there are uncontrollable, we must allow ourselves to see that we can control our actions. And by doing so, we will be able to realize that we hold the power to influence the events that are happening to us.

In training, there will be long months of boredom, wherein you would be lazy to get up and train You tell yourself that you need someone to motivate you. You tell yourself that you need to watch motivational videos and listen to motivational speakers to train. You place so much priority in finding external inspiration and in the process that you forget that your greatest inspiration is within you.

You need to learn how to tap into your intrinsic motivation, wherein you need to find and ground yourself in the reason why you are training. Why are you making yourself suffer when you could be somewhere enjoying life? Why you are grinding it out in training when everyone is partying on a Friday night? Why you would miss some birthday parties, road trips, or family gatherings, to train in an empty gym.

Empty Gym...

When you find out those reasons and combine it with the discipline to fulfill your goals, you will become a stronger person capable of surpassing his or her own limits.