Coaches Help Students Unlock Motivation

Motivation is Not a Trait

In their new book on motivation, expanded upon in this podcast episode from the American Psychological Association, Dr. Frank Worrell and Dr. Wendy Grolnick debunk some entrenched myths about motivation that can help coaches invite students (and themselves) to consider some important shifts in perspective. Grolnick makes this important point in the podcast: 


"A lot of times we think of motivation as something about a person: Some people are very motivated people, other people are unmotivated people. And it turns out what the science says is that motivation is really much more a function of people’s interests and the context that they’re in. Everybody can be motivated in a particular context...the problem with holding the conception that some people are motivated and others aren’t, is that if we see someone that doesn’t look so motivated, we think that’s an unmotivated person, we start to treat them as an unmotivated person, and when we treat them as an unmotivated person, they might start to act like that more and fulfill that prophecy."


Worrell, Grolnick, and their co-author Benjamin Heddy emphasize that rather than a trait, motivation is the energy we put toward what we care about and value, and comes from inside. For this reason, people on the outside can persuade a person to do something, but cannot make someone want to do that thing. The wanting is under the control of the individual. 


How can coaches operationalize this information in a coaching context? First and foremost, they can help students understand that no one is inherently a more or less motivated person. Then coaches can ask questions that invite students to unpack their motivations:


  • What are you motivated to do, or not do? 
  • What drives this motivation? 
  • What are the results of the situation? How do you feel about the results? 
  • If you want to make a change, how can you be specific in defining the potential positive result from that change so that you can increase your own desire to work toward it? 
  • How can you redefine yourself as able to be motivated within particular contexts?


Flip the script when you can, coaches. When a student says they are not motivated to do something, ask them how they might reframe that in terms of what they ARE motivated to do – perhaps fear motivates them to avoid it, boredom motivates them to set it aside, confusion motivates them to pretend it doesn't exist. 


Want to explore more about how to help students uncover and manage their motivations? Join LifeBound for 1-Day or 3-Day Training Classes or Coaching Certification! 

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