Inner Motivation
Commitment and passion are the foundation of peak performance. Commitment is the first essential ingredient in the Pursuit of Excellence by Terry Orlick. With commitment you can accomplish anything, without it most high level goals are impossible to attain. In order to have a strong sense of commitment you need to have passion in your sport. In other words, you need to love and enjoy what you are doing.
The love and enjoyment of the game allows you to be passionate about the sport and make a meaningful contribution to your sport. When you are passionate, you strive for excellence, desire to feel competent, and do everything that requires to excel. Therefore, when you love the game and want to be the best you can be, then you have to make a strong commitment to yourself to reach your full potential.
When you have that strong sense of commitment you have to do whatever it takes to feel competent. There will be times when you will face obstacles, failures, and feel the pain when going through tough practices. Every person experiences these, even the great performers. However, the ones who make it to the top are the ones who fought through those tough practices, failures, obstacles and pain. You need to find the simple joys, embrace personal growth, remember your dream, and continue to find passion in parts of your pursuit along the way. If you think going through a difficult practice is a sacrifice, then you are not fully committed. One has to have the right reasons why they suffer through tough practices, failures, obstacles and pain. You do not do it because you have to do it. You do it because you love doing it and you have the great desire to be the best you can be. You need to learn to embrace and enjoy the tough and strenuous practices that will make you feel competent and allow you to excel in your sport. Sometimes you may not be able to enjoy the tough and strenuous practices because your body may not feel good or you have personal problems, however, you still need to remember your dreams and have enough passion and commitment to fight through the tough practices, the pain and overcome whatever stands in your way.
“Happiness is not doing what you like to do, it is liking what you have to do, and seeing yourself achieving your goals”(Porter).