Different types of motivation When someone says motivation I think a lot of people think it’s a fierce “get me results” hyped up athlete. For me personally, I always thought I’d have to be aiming to achieve success as soon of possible and be tunnel vision on the end product. In this post in going to explain 3 types of motivation, and when they are useful and in part 2, I’ll be giving methods on how to apply them for your own journey! 1- Intrinsic Motivation This is motivation that comes internally. Entering training from the state of mind • You enjoy the process • You love improving • You find meaning in the sport Example: An athlete who trains because they love mastering their craft, not because of medals or praise they want to reach their full potential and love the sport Most powerful for long-term performance and flow state. Walt Disney understood something crucial about creativity and motivation: judgement kills intrinsic drive. When Disney created, he separated the process into stages. During the Dreamer phase, no idea was criticised, analysed, or filtered. There was no concern about whether an idea was realistic, impressive, or good enough. The goal was simply to explore, imagine, and enjoy creating. This protected intrinsic motivation the joy of the process itself. Only later did Disney move into the Realistand Critic phases, where structure and evaluation were allowed. By delaying judgement, Disney prevented fear, self-doubt, and external pressure from shutting down creativity. For athletes, this matters deeply. When every training session is judged by results, comparison, or expectation intrinsic motivation fades. Flow and enjoyment disappear. For long term performance and flow state, intrinsic motivation is essential “If you love the game nobody can take that from you” - Michael Jordan 2- Extrinsic motivation Extrinsic motivation is driven by external rewards or pressures, rather than enjoyment of the process itself. Athletes act from extrinsic motivation when they train for: