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Showing posts from June, 2025

“Are your decisions truly your own, or are they shaped by someone else’s vision?” (Part2)

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 Kia Ora koutou, This is Hiro. Welcome back to Part 2, where the topic is: “Are your decisions truly your own, or are they shaped by someone else’s vision?”  (If you have not read Part 1, that is from here.) In the previous section, I shared my personal experiences of how team norms and coaching environments shaped my decisions, often without me realising it. Now, let’s look at how we can analyse these influences more clearly. Using psychological tools like Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and Multiple perspectives , we can begin to untangle which of our actions are truly self-driven and which are shaped by pressure, fear, or external expectations. The goal is not to reject team culture entirely, but to reclaim your reasons for running, training, and competing in a way that feels right for you. Where does your motivation come from? Gaining Multiple Perspectives To begin with, we need to view ourselves and our environments from multiple angles: What is the norm ...

“Are Your Decisions Truly Your Own, Or Are They Shaped By Someone Else’s Vision?” (Part1)

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 Kia Ora koutou, This is Hiro. Today’s topic is: “Are your decisions truly your own, or are they shaped by someone else’s vision?” We all engage with athletics and running in different ways. For many, it begins as a fun hobby, a way to enjoy exercise, and it's naturally integrated into daily life. But as we continue running by joining a club, training with teammates, or competing in races, our involvement is getting deeper, larger or changing. When athletes begin performing at high levels, they may gain opportunities to join more competitive teams or training environments. As we become part of these communities and receive more external evaluation, our decision-making will be separated into two types. One is led to positive behaviour by autonomy, and one is influenced to push us into emotional hardship by outside stimuli. In my own university athletics experience, I struggled mentally, yet I convinced myself that everything I was doing was the “right” decision. So why do ...

Why Runners Say “I Haven’t Trained Much”: A Psychological Perspective

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  Why Runners Say “I Haven’t Trained Much”: A Psychological Perspective Kia Ora koutou, This is Hiro. It’s been quite a while, around 2 and a half years, since the last update. Over the past year, I’ve accumulated some new insights from a slightly different perspective on athletics and coaching. I’d like to gradually share them with you. Today’s Topic: Why do runners say, “I haven’t trained much”? If you’re involved in the sports of athletics, you’ve probably heard this phrase many times, either from teammates or maybe even from your mouth: “I haven’t trained much lately.” This is something often said before or after a race. In this post, I’ll explore what kind of psychological state this phrase reflects and how we, as athletes, coaches, or teammates, can better understand and respond to it. How do you feel about your result today? 1. A Psychological Safety framing: Loss Aversion This is something most athletes can relate to. The athletics field often involves tra...