Changes in Motivation Across Athletic Career Stages "What are you seeking through it?" [Part2]

 Kia Ora,

This is Hiro.

Today’s blog is Part 2 of Changes in Motivation Across Athletic Career Stages

“What are you seeking through it?”

If you missed Part 1, you can [click here] to read it first.

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#1: Pitfalls of Ego Orientation

As discussed in Part 1, Achievement Goal Theory (AGT) has two orientations:

• Task orientation (more intrinsic)
• Ego orientation (more extrinsic)

As athletes advance and improve, they often become addicted to winning and external praise.

This “victory and praise” can over satisfy their needs, causing external motivation to dominate their sporting identity. Even if their motivation was initially intrinsic, elite and pro sports usually evaluate only winning. Athletes must continually prove their superiority.

In elite careers, self-esteem, once built on personal growth and mastery, can become distorted by social recognition and material rewards. As a result, they may no longer enjoy the sport itself and begin to believe that their value depends solely on their results.

Understanding these mechanisms and maintaining a healthy balance between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is essential for protecting mental health.

Strictly speaking, AGT describes how athletes define success (ability, achievement), not just their motivation, but it has two faces:

• Ego orientation: usually linked to extrinsic motivation
• Social comparison
• Rewards, medals, prizes
• “As long as I win, that’s success.”
• Task orientation: usually linked to intrinsic motivation
• Mastery, skill growth, enjoyment
• Well-aligned with the SDT needs of autonomy and competence

For example, an ego-oriented athlete might think:

• “Winning feels like success.”
• “I’m better than my teammates.”
• “If I beat you, I’m good.”

These beliefs can fuel powerful short-term motivation and high performance. However, they also carry massive stress because they tie self-worth entirely to competition and external evaluation.

If an ego-oriented athlete experiences defeat, a slump, failure, loss of sponsorship, or social devaluation, their sense of superiority is threatened. That can lead to a collapse in motivation, or even an identity crisis.

 

#2: Overcoming the Pitfalls

By contrast, task-oriented athletes think:

• “Success = improving my skills and growing.”
• “If I achieve a personal best, I’m successful.”
• “Did I learn something new and improve?”

Most athletes hold both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations to some degree. If ego orientation is balanced and supported by task orientation, they can manage mental stress from failure or setbacks.

For example, when an external goal (like winning) is linked to an intrinsic challenge (like beating your personal best), the athlete can:

• Strengthen their sense of self-efficacy
• Appreciate their own effort
• Value the support from those around them
• Take pride in their process, even if they lose

In this way, most athletes blend intrinsic and extrinsic elements, rather than focusing on outcomes alone.

 

#3: Social Pressures

However, in reality, many athletes fall into the ego-orientation trap.

Every top athlete must retire someday, and many struggle with a loss of identity after retiring, because their entire self-worth was built on results and recognition.

Even in Japan, you see this in talented children or students with high performance: they learn to value themselves only through winning or being recognized.

If people around them praise only results rather than effort, the mindset “I exist only because I am the best” becomes internalized.

If this idea takes root too deeply, intrinsic motivation fades away. They focus solely on results, which can lead to:

• Doing anything to win (e.g., doping, cheating)
• Social isolation
• Early burnout
• Feeling that sports is no longer a joy, but just a source of stress

 

#4: Balancing Task and Ego Orientation

When I raced in Japan, I once saw an aggressive athlete yelling at a course marshal because the course was unclear — and it was just a local road race!

At another marathon, I skipped water at a crowded drink station to avoid bumping other runners, which left me badly dehydrated at 40 km and cost me a personal best. A colleague later told me: “If you want to win, you should be more selfish and not worry about others.”

You can see many attitudes, behaviors, and values among athletes in the same event, depending on their motivational balance.

If you observe others during your own races, or while spectating, it is a good chance to reflect on how you are engaging with your sport.

Some advice from coaches, parents, friends, or teammates can also help you balance your own motivations.

By objectively analysing these differences, you can better balance ego orientation with task orientation.

A coach’s outside perspective is especially helpful for seeing your motivation clearly.

Be free from the stress of your competitive sports sometimes

How to Maintain Intrinsic Motivation Despite External Pressures

To nurture intrinsic motivation, praise the effort that led to results, not just the victory.

Even if athletes lose or fail, they should receive positive recognition for their effort:

• “Never compare or underrate your effort.”
• “Respect everything you did to challenge yourself.”

If supporters, coaches, and friends see your effort, not just your results, you can maintain a growth-oriented, intrinsic mindset.

 

 

Coaching Strategies for Each Phase

Throughout career phases, coaches should identify and support the motivational needs of their athletes. This awareness builds long-term, trusting relationships.

Across the whole career

• Adjust goals to fit the athlete’s stage
• Communicate with empathy
• Share trust and values

Phase 1: Nurturing joy

• Support fun and exploration
• Encourage skill development

Phase 2: Managing competitive pressures

• Balance competitive drive
• Protect mental health
• Blend controllable task-based goals with ego-based goals tied to external competition
• Remind athletes not to project their identity solely onto results

Phase 3: Preparing for new chapters

• Introduce fresh training methods
• Set realistic, self-knowledge-based goals
• Support identity beyond sport

 

 

Understanding Motivation Across Career Phases

I often hear at coaching seminars:

“Good junior coaches aren’t necessarily good senior coaches, and vice versa.”

I believe this means not only that training methods should match physical growth, but that mental factors change, too.

Children are usually motivated by:

• Gaining self-esteem through learning
• Succeeding at things they couldn’t do before
• Enjoying movement and play

In contrast, competitive adults and parents often focus on:

• Winning
• Maximizing performance
• External praise

When there is a mismatch between children’s intrinsic motivation and adults’ external expectations, positive results and healthy relationships can be hard to achieve.

At the junior level, coaches should foster fun and skill growth. They should carefully observe what children can and cannot do, encourage them to overcome challenges with their existing abilities, and expose them to new ways to enjoy sport.

This stimulates their SDT needs and builds confidence and motivation.

 

Conclusion

Athletes, coaches, and parents need to understand that motivation is not static. It changes with life stage, goals, and social pressures.

By supporting autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and blending task and ego orientations wisely. We can build a healthier, more sustainable sporting environment.

When you support athletes (or children) through these stages, ask yourself:

1. Why do they feel motivated now? (understand their needs and type of motivation)
2. How do they define success? (task vs ego)
3. What coaching or training practices best match these needs?

Sport should enrich people’s lives, not define their worth.

As coaches, parents, and athletes, let’s keep this in mind so that sport stays a source of joy, growth, and connection at every stage of life.