Module 2 of 4

What Fires You Up —
and What's Running
on Autopilot

You don't have a motivation problem. You have a clarity problem. Let's figure out where your energy is actually coming from — and whether it's a source you'd choose.

MBAT Week 2 — Body Scan — starts with this module.
Section 1

Two Kinds of Drive

You have two sources of motivation, and they feel completely different.

Intrinsic motivation is when you do something because the work itself matters. You're pulled toward it — not pushed. You care about the process, not just the outcome. And here's the thing: intrinsic motivation is way more sustainable. It doesn't run out when the stakes get lower or the novelty wears off.

Extrinsic motivation is when you do something for approval, comparison, or to avoid looking bad. It's real energy, but it comes from outside you. And when it's your primary driver, something shifts: you're not trying to do great work anymore. You're trying to protect your image. Every mistake feels like evidence, and every loss stings because it wasn't about the work—it was about what people think.

Most athletes have both. The question isn't whether you have extrinsic motivation—you do. The question is where the weight sits. And here's what determines that: three core needs.

Choice (Autonomy) — Do you feel like you have a real say in how you train and compete? Or does everything feel prescribed and controlled?

Skill (Competence) — Do you feel like you're actually getting better and do you understand why? Or are you just grinding without clarity?

Belonging (Relatedness) — Do you feel connected to your coaches and teammates? Or isolated and unseen?

When these three needs aren't met, even if you love the sport itself, extrinsic motivation fills the gap. And that's when things get fragile.

Section 2

Your Motivation Check-In

Choice: "Do I have a real say?"
Skill: "Am I getting better?"
Belonging: "Am I connected?"

Below are five areas of your athletic life. For each one, rate how well your three core needs are being met — right now, honestly. Click the dots: 1 is "barely at all," 5 is "completely."

Your Motivation Profile
Choice (Autonomy)
0
Skill (Competence)
0
Belonging (Relatedness)
0
Domain Breakdown
Domain Choice Skill Belonging
Section 3

Pressure From the Outside

There's a thing that happens to young athletes. Sometimes without realizing, you end up in one of two painful patterns — and they can look the same from the outside.

Over-controlled: Your coach, parent, or program decides everything. Your training plan, your positioning, how you should think about the game—all prescribed. You don't have a say. The problem isn't that you lack motivation. It's that you have no ownership. And when there's no ownership, there's no intrinsic drive. You're just executing orders.

Under-confident: You have agency, but you don't understand why things work or don't. You made a mistake and nobody explained what it means or how to fix it. You're improving, but you can't see it. That's the second trap: you can't build competence if you're flying blind. And when you don't feel competent, external pressure (coaches, parents, your own harsh voice) fills that space.

Most young athletes dealing with one or both right now. And here's the thing: the fix is completely different. Over-controlled needs more ownership. Under-confident needs better understanding. They look similar on the surface, but they need opposite solutions.

Reflection 3.1
Which one resonates more?
Over-controlled, under-confident, or both? Be specific about where.
Reflection 3.2
What would change if that blocker were removed?
Not just your performance—how would you feel differently about the sport itself?
Section 4

What Do You Actually Want?

Underneath the goals and expectations—underneath what you're supposed to say—what do YOU want from your sport? Not what coaches want. Not what parents want. What would you do if nobody was tracking it, evaluating it, or comparing it to someone else?

Reflection 4.1
Underneath all of it — what do you actually want?
Not what you're supposed to say. Not the interview answer. What's actually true?
Section 5

Reconnection Practice

Think back to when this sport first mattered to you. Before anyone was evaluating you. Before rankings, before the pressure, before you understood what failure meant. What was true then that might be buried now?

Reconnection Letter
A letter to the version of you who first loved this.
Write to who you were before the rankings, the evaluations, the pressure. Tell them what you know now. Tell them what you're trying to find your way back to.
MBAT — Week 2 of 4
Mindfulness-Based Attention Training · Week 2 · Days 8–14

Body Scan

Feel It · Sensation Check · 15 minutes · 5× this week

Last week you trained locking focus on one point. This week: same focus, but inside your body.

Body scan moves attention through your body — feet to head — noticing what's actually there. Pleasant sensations, uncomfortable ones, neutral background noise. The point isn't to change anything. It's to feel something uncomfortable and continue anyway. That's the skill transfer to competition: fear, tension, discomfort—all present, all manageable.

Label sensations: pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral—then move on. Expect: some areas uncomfortable, might fall asleep (your call), sensations change when you pay attention to them.

  1. Sit or lie down. Lying down = might fall asleep, your call.
  2. Start at your feet. What's actually there? Warmth, pressure, tingling?
  3. Label it: pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. Don't overthink it.
  4. Move upward slowly through each body region: ankles, shins, knees, thighs, hips, belly, chest, back, shoulders, arms, hands, neck, head, face.
  5. When your mind wanders — same move as Week 1. Notice and return.
  6. Finish by feeling your whole body at once for one minute.
Week 2 — Body Scan
15-minute guided practice. Use headphones if possible.
MBAT Practice — Week 2
Save Your Work
Download all your reflections from Module 2 as a PDF