The greatest obstacle to success is taking action daily, the greatest obstacle to taking action daily is finding motivation, the greatest obstacle to finding motivation is belief, and the greatest obstacle to belief is faith. Thus faith is the foundation for all worthwhile accomplishment.
A great many players desire to achieve success in their sport. They may even strongly desire and dream of the outcomes they can receive when successful by societal standards; wins, championships, recognition, scholarships, professional opportunities, etc. Yet why do so few start and last on the path of full committment towards those standards of success ? Why doesn’t the possiblity of those rewards drive every player through adversity? Why do so many stop at obstacles?
I believe the answer lies in a lack of trust, or faith, by the player that is borne out of the uncertainty of not seeing the alignment between what is on their heart and the path they are being asked to travel. In order to stick through a difficult journey, a path paved with adversity, a person must have deep faith that this is the path for them. They must possess a deep faith that the path and the reward line up with their personal goals, values, and purposes. When faced with times of adversity what is at the core of our motivation will win out. If a player doesn’t believe in the path the prospect of an extrinsic reward will not carry them past the obstacles. Only the determination found in pursuing intrinsic goals can drive someone repeatedly past obstacles.
The only other explanation would be players simply do not desire the extrinsic reward being offered. I hear so many pundits and expertts like Dick Vitale say on television something like ‘if the kid would just go to class and work hard they could be millionaires, I don’t get what he is thinking’. Two things in response to that. 1) Believe it or not money and fame may not be the greatest source of motivation for everybody, if it was we would all be entreprenuers or entertainers. 2) Has anybody taken the time to find out what truly excites that player? Has anyone helped them identify their passion(s) and how the path of working hard on the basketball court and showing up to classes might align and be of benefit with their passion(s)?
The world’s extrinsic rewards will never be able to compete with the power found when a path aligns with somebodys passison and purpose. Likewise a coach will never be able to fully motivate and teach a team until the players and team have faith in the alignment between their passions and goals and the coaches vision and plan for them.
10:10 Sport 