Motivational Focus
You are twelve minutes into a twenty minute AMRAP. The lactic acid has seized your lungs and it feels like you are breathing through a straw. You know those thirty burpees are coming to start your fifth round. As you look over, your training partner is coming off the bar from their pull ups and about to lay down for their first burpee. This specific moment is one of the most intriguing moments to me, as a coach
To watch people under pressure, and under duress, fighting everything their body is telling them and forcing the action. Some athletes feel this moment and instantly hit the floor, knowing if they keep pushing, they will win the workout. Some take that extra second to get an extra breathe. They think that if they can recover for a couple seconds, they will be able to hold off their opponent. The opponent does not always need to be another athlete. This sense of competition can be and internal struggle with yourself as much as it is an external challenge against others. But how is that decision made? Why do some athletes push so hard for the win while others try to hold on to their lead? What actually motivates people to do what they do in these intense and competitive situations?
As it turns out, the answer is in our biology. Researchers have discovered we all view motivation in two different ways; promotion focus or prevention focus, “the regulatory focus theory.” As you may gather, the promotion focus is a decision made with intent on gaining something. “If I start now, I will win the workout.” The prevention focus changes the thought process to, “If I take a few more seconds to recover, I won’t lose the workout.” These are universal neurological patterns built into the brain. Your motivational focus affects decision making, value systems, competition, and every conscious and unconscious decision you make.
Our brain is capable of comprehending both focus patterns simultaneously; however, each person has a dominant way of thinking based on a number of situational and genetic factors. The promotion focus often associates seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. If you are an athlete driven by the positive feeling of winning or setting PR’s, your promotional focus pushes you to reach the next level of fitness. You strive for new goals and are always pushing the limits on your capabilities. Prevention focused athletes are often slightly less competitive and focus on safety and quality of movement and less about the whiteboard. The human brain is designed to use both motivational focuses to ensure safety, yet achieve goals. How far you sway on the prevention-promotion pendulum is unique to you and the importance you place on specific events and decisions.
A great example in the gym is the almighty PR attempt. If you are the person that will attempt a PR clean and dive under the bar as fast as possible with less than ideal form, not only is it not that smart, but you are placing a very high premium on your promotion focus. If you are the person that misses their first PR attempt and strips the weight thinking, “eh, not today, that felt heavy,” you are prioritizing the prevention focus, keeping your form, and in general, living to fight another day.
What I find the most interesting is how quickly our motivational focus can swing, depending upon the situation. Have you ever looked at the first 2 rounds of a workout and gone all out to get ahead? Then the inevitable third round comes up and you find yourself saying, “If I can just hang on I will still have a solid time?” This is the perfect example of how quickly you can change from a promotional focus, getting ahead in the workout, to a prevention focus, just hanging on.
The important thing to understand is there is no right or wrong. If you are motivated to eat healthy because you want to be the healthiest person in the world, perfect, but you can also achieve great results by having a disease prevention mindset. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to these motivation strategies. Your life can be its own case study. By understanding your motivational focus, it becomes much easier to understand WHY you are doing something. Experiment on yourself. When a tough situation prevents itself, and it comes time to make a decision, ask yourself why you are doing it. Is it to gain something or prevent something from happening? Complete this quick experiment 3-4 times and you will see a pattern formulate. It will become very obvious if you lean towards a promotion or prevention focus. Hopefully at the end of the experiment you will have a better understanding of the driving factors behind your personal motivations that allow you to achieve your goals.
"Regulatory Focus Theory." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 Nov. 2014. Web. 12 May 2014.
Bronson, Po, and Ashley Merryman. Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing. New York: Twelve, 2013. Print.
Halvorson, Heidi Grant-, and E. Tory Higgins. Focus: Use Different Ways of Seeing the World for Success and Influence. New York: Hudson Street, 2013. Print.
