“Understanding Your Own Worldview and Others Values”

 Kia Ora koutou,

This is Hiro.
Today’s blog topic is: “Understanding Your Own Worldview and Others Values”

 

1: What Are Worldviews?

Everyone has their own background, purpose, and reasons for participating in sport. But often, we are unaware of these differences and instead project our own expectations or generalised assumptions onto others.

In this article, I invite you to reflect on your deeper motivations and explore other perspectives. Doing so can help you better understand yourself and those around you. This includes recognising why your friends, children, or teammates might feel joy or disappointment for reasons different from your own.

If you can understand others’ worldviews and perspectives, you'll be able to communicate more effectively and offer better support to teammates, athletes, and mentors. Ultimately, this awareness can bring more harmony to your sports community.

 

 

2: Do You Know Where You Are?

In competitive sport, we often hear the phrase “Know yourself.”
This usually refers to understanding your strengths and weaknesses. It’s a crucial tool for success, not just to maximise your strengths, but also to minimise risk. And remember, your opponents are doing the same.

When we assess our own skills or potential, we tend to rely on external metrics like time, rankings, or statistics. But what about personal values?

Here’s the key realisation: we all operate from internal standards, “our own worldviews”, while trying to manage the world around us. Once you recognise that others have different worldviews too, you’ll understand that your “standard” is not universal.

For example, imagine someone runs a 2:10 marathon. Many would expect them to aim for a national record in New Zealand. But maybe that runner isn’t interested in records at all. Maybe they just run for enjoyment. Society often values “potential” and “achievement,” but rarely asks what the athlete themselves truly wants.

This disconnect can prevent us from reaching our authentic goals in sport.

So first, ask yourself:

Where is your goal?

 

Questioning to Know Yourself

Reflect on the questions below. (The answers are examples, you can write your own.)

1. What does sport mean to you?
   → An artistic expression that shapes my performance.
2. What does “success” in sport mean to you?
   → Feeling joy in running well and achieving a performance that reflects what I imagined.
3. What value does sport have for you?
   → Self-growth, connection, and freedom—following my curiosity.
4. What kind of approach do you prefer?
   → Trying things freely, experimenting, and enjoying the process.
   → Staying flexible—not tied to strict training plans or race schedules.
5. Your methods/actions:

• Structure the year around new training theories and insights
• Build a strong foundation and enjoy running
• Choose races that feel fun or meaningful, rather than based on pressure or deadlines

 

Did Your Answers Surprise You?

Many people realise their internal answers are different from what their coach, parents, or even they themselves expect.

When asked, “What’s your goal?”, people often say, “I want to win,” or “I want to run a specific time.” But deeper reflection often reveals something more personal.

 

This process helps you uncover:

• What sport really means to you
• What you're actually aiming for
• What truly brings you happiness

Try both: a single goal-setting question vs. a deeper reflective process:

• What is your sport? What’s important to you?
• How do you define success?
• What do you value? What brings you joy?
• What’s your approach?
• How do you measure progress?

From this, you’ll gain insight into:

• What training style fits you
• What races bring you real satisfaction
• What kind of training group supports your mindset
• What type of coach aligns with your worldview

 

You might not be satisfied with only fun racing. You might expect to win more.

 

3: Understanding Others’ Worldviews

Now, apply the same reflective process to others, which are your coach, teammates, club, or events.

Once you know where you are and what you want, it becomes easier to understand how others see the world. This reduces mismatches between your expectations and theirs.

Let’s take a hypothetical example: a coach preparing for the Hakone Ekiden*.

(*Hakone Ekiden = Japan’s most famous university road relay, with 10 runners per team. Half-marathon times range from around 64 to under 60 minutes.)

Coach’s worldview:

1. What does sport mean to them?
   → A zero-sum game: if you beat others, you win.
2. What is success?
   → Defeating other teams and gaining a lead.
3. What’s the value of sport?
   → Social recognition through victory.
4. Preferred approach:
   → Always chase a competitive edge; win from the start.
5. Methods / Actions:

• Set a fixed goal: win Hakone
• Create a science-based performance environment
• Build strong, competitive team dynamics
• Push athletes to peak at key races

You can clearly see how this worldview may differ from yours.

Even though we understand that “everyone is different,” we’re still heavily influenced by societal norms and media. A high school athlete running a 14:10 5000m might receive university offers, and people might automatically assume, “This athlete can run Hakone.”

But this creates bias. Coaches and teams may impose their worldview onto athletes. Athletes may unconsciously adopt these expectations and lose touch with their original motivation.

In hierarchical teams, the coach’s worldview often dominates. This mismatch can lead to confusion, stress, or burnout.

 

 

4: Discovering Your Ideal Field

Let’s look at a few contrasts:

• Casual student athletes vs. full-time scholarship athletes
• Corporate team runners vs. recreational runners

Many runners confuse admiration with self-identity.

For example, you might admire Hakone runners on TV and think, “I want to be like them.” But ask yourself, “Do I really want that lifestyle, every day, all year?” And “is that value system truly mine?”

In the second case, many amateur runners dream of turning pro. It seems ideal, being paid to do what you love. But the reality often includes,

• Strict team schedules
• Required races
• Limited personal freedom

Even if you run 13:50 for 5000m, if your worldview doesn’t match your team’s, you may suffer, not from lack of ability, but from misalignment.

On the other hand, if your primary goal is earning money or gaining social recognition, then a corporate team may fit your worldview well.

 

Admiration + someone else’s values ≠ your worldview

I will introduce one real example below,

A runner competed in Hakone Ekiden and later ran a marathon in 2:10:02 at age 22. It was an outstanding debut for a marathon career.
Many saw this as a path to world championships or the Olympics in the near future.
But his personal career goal had already been met, which was running the fastest lap in Leg 2 in Hakone Ekiden for his team with his teammates' support.

After joining a corporate team, he faced different values and long-term elite performance. But that wasn’t his vision. He retired just two years later and finished his career.

We sometimes miss the key take away what looks like the best choice from the outside may not match internal goals.

 

Japanese Corporate Team Ekiden on TV on 1st January

5: Understand Your Reality and Accept Others’

Before setting goals or chasing dreams, return to two core ideas:

1. Know yourself.
2. Understand others’ worldviews.

These become especially important when selecting teams, schools, or deciding whether to go pro.

If you’re currently struggling in your environment, consider the following:

• Reflect on why things don’t feel right
• Know it’s okay to step away from a mismatch
• Recognise that your worldview may not fit the team, and that’s okay
• Talk openly with coaches or supporters
• Seek or build an environment that aligns with your values

Fortunately, more clubs and corporate teams in Japan are starting to offer alternative models. If your current environment doesn’t match your true expectations, you can change your environment.
You don’t have to change your lens or give up your dreams.

 

6: In Conclusion

Seek an environment that fits your worldview, not just your abilities.

Once you recognise that your worldview is unique, you’ll have greater clarity.
You may admire certain teams or achievements, but those don’t always reflect your values.

A mismatch between worldview and environment causes stress, not because you’re not good enough, but because you’re not in the right place.

If your worldview isn’t thriving where you are, step away or build a new space.
Once you find a good match, you’ll thrive and enjoy a healthy, fulfilling sports life.