Reach for The Sky or Don't Even Try

Abraham Damar Grahita as IBL player

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Win or lose is not always the matter of winning or losing the game, but it could symbolize our dedication to achieve our dreams. Our success or failure to achieve our goals depends on many factors. The major factor is motivation. Why motivation can lead people to victory or their goals? Motivation will increase an athlete's performance. For instance, if you are highly motivated to improve your performance, you will put the time and effort that is necessary to be succeed. Motivation is also essential when you face someone with the same level of competence as you. Indeed, it is not solely ability that determines the outcome; rather best performance athlete who worked the hardest, the one who does not give up, and performed the best would succeed.

Abraham Damar Grahita.

Where does the motivation came from?

The motivation that comes from outside sources is called external motivation. People who feel that motivation is like a fire - a type that depends on external events or a temporary emotion - are externally motivated. They rely on others to "pump them up," or look up to inspirational speakers or books or events to charge their inner motivational fire.

The motivation that comes from inside a person is known as internal motivation. People who are internally motivated are not dependent on anything outside of themselves for a source of motivation. External events may change their approach towards their desires, but have no effect on their motivational levels. They set their minds on their visions and draw from internal resources to provide a life-long supply of fuel to keep their motivational flames burning. While their flames may not always be a raging blaze, they are always burning and could be increased by a simple incentive.

Positive and negative motivation

First, positive motivation is a response that takes place when an individual’s performance is driven by previous reinforcing behavior. The following are positive techniques a coach can use to motivate their athletes: communicate effectively, reward athletes with praise and encouragement, assert on strengths not weaknesses, set aside certain times for fun, support athlete after errors and losses, as well as after playing and winning.

On the other hand, negative motivation is characterized by improvement in performance out of anxiety for the consequences that could happened due to lacking performance. Some coaches prefer to motivate athletes by applying negative enforcement. For example, when an athlete is not performing well during training, the coach intimidates the athlete involved by scolding him or her in front of the whole team. In addition, negative motivation

could also occur when a coach is unhappy with how his team is training that makes him says, "If you guys don’t want to train properly you have to do 10 more laps around the field." This could be categorized as physical abuse.

Many athletes believe that positive motivation is more effective than negative motivation because positive motivation can increase an athlete’s self-esteem and self-confidence.

The impact of motivation for athletes

The impact of motivation is very obvious. It is the bridge that connects them to their goals and purpose in life. Without a doubt, it is one of the important factors that drives them to reach their goals, which is indeed to be a winner in the match.

Many athletes in the world are trained by using both positive and negative motivations. For instance, this is the story about one of the national basketball athlete in Indonesia.

Matthew 19:26 – Looking at them, Jesus said, "with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." This Bible verse is one of the life guidelines that Abraham Damar Grahita hold onto. Bram was born in Pangkalpinang – Bangka Belitung on 8 October 1995. He is a professional basketball player in Indonesia who played for Stadium Happy 8 Jakarta. Before he took the spot in the Stadium, he was just an ordinary boy who aimed to be a professional basketball player. However, he has a small and thin body that makes people around him doubted and underestimated him.

Due to that circumstances, he became motivated to prove to himself and people around him that one day he would be succeed as a professional basketball player. This made Bram refused to give up and continued his training. After he graduated from his school, he got a chance to practice in M88 Aspac in the nation's capital city. However, after such long training, Aspac did not accept Bram. Fortunately, Bram was offered to join Stadium Jakarta because they like how Bram plays basketball. All the sweat, the tears, and the time that he dedicated to practice his basketball skill finally paid off with his acceptance to one of the professional basketball club in Indonesia.

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