Women's Media Nation | Social, political, and cultural issues relating to women

Formula for Success: Motivation, Focus & Drive

posted by ChickSpeak
Monday, March 8, 2010 at 8:22pm CST

The past few weeks, ChickSpeak has covered the 2010 Olympic Winter Games by featuring articles on inspiring athletes and their practically unprecedented, awe-inspiring accomplishments - including Angela Ruggiero’s historical hockey games and Lindsey Jacobellis‘ incredible influence among the snowboarding community.

As the writer of these pieces, one question still baffles me: at such a high level of competition where precise concentration is not only beneficial for success but completely necessary, how do these girls manage to keep their focus? More importantly, how do they stay motivated when the drive needs to come from within?

In order to solve this mystery, I spoke with numerous athletes, from professional greats to amateur competitors, to conjure what exactly is the formula for success.

Unanimously, all athletes rely on a heavy training schedule both on and off season to fuel their athletic prowess. Kat, a field hockey and softball player from Massachusetts, says that she usually goes to the gym at her school two to three times a week for a few hours at a time. Nessa, the 2009 freestyle skiing Junior Olympic champion, who calls New Hampshire her home, incorporates a two-hour running, weight lifting and stretching routine with push-ups, pull-ups and crunches into her schedule. Amy Bennett, an Xterra extreme athlete featured twice on Chick Speak, says to believe in the training that you have accomplished when competing.

It’s been drilled in all Chicks’ heads since kindergarten that having fun is the most important thing in any sort of sporting event. Well, it rings true once again: according to Nessa, loving what she does and having fun with it is the encouragement for her success. She says, “Honestly, I don’t have any motivations to do well. I just love skiing. Loving something inspires one to want to go somewhere [with that thing]. I want to go somewhere with skiing. I want to ski for the rest of my life. When I do ski moguls, I just love it. I love flipping. I love when people cheer for me on the side of the course. ”

Kat concurs with that statement. She says that she just wants to have fun. Her family encourages her to enjoy what she does and roots for her along the way, keeping her motivated.

Additionally, self-confidence and power from within is essential for success. Amy tells herself to stay positive, believe in herself, and press forward with the mission. Her advice to others is, “Don’t worry about what you have done or failed to do. Now is the time to lay everything on the line and dedicate yourself physically, emotionally, and spiritually.” It’s important to ignore your past accomplishments or failures and focus on the task at hand. Amy puts it simply, “I always think of the little engine that could saying ‘I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.’”

Astonishingly, these ideas and thoughts can be applied to a myriad of other fields besides athletic endeavors. Focus, motivation and drive are crucial to anyone pushing herself.

Doing what you love and staying true to your heart is important to both remember and consider when choosing a college, applying for a job, or engaging in hobbies and pastimes. Possessing confidence is essential to succeed at any sort of task, from moving on after a particularly harsh break up, quitting a job that just isn’t right or breaking bad news to someone you love. Most of all, nothing can be accomplished without belief in yourself that you can do it.

Maxine Frendel is a writer from New Jersey who is super sad to see the Olympics go. She hates saying good bye - well, until Sochi 2014, that is.