Motivation for a Team

[Senttothegallows]

Hello,

I am on a small club collegiate program and I was looking for a way to help motivate some of my fellow teammates. We have a very promising freshman class, but none of them erg/train for rowing. We have slowly become more competitive as many members of the team have started to train hard and put up some decent erg scores, but I want to make sure this big and strong freshman class can become great rowers, as opposed to what usually happens on my team where a select few learn to train, but most just drink/fraternity there rowing careers away.

[jackarabit]

Work hard, play hard, drink hard? That should separate the real men from the Methodists! Tell em those who leave a legacy are remembered just slightly longer than those who merely recieve one.

[bisqeet]

here is the textbook solution I was taught:

well - you can't motivate them -motivation comes from within;
motivation is either extrinsic (driven by reward), or intrinsic (meaningfullness for lack of a better on the fly description).

- what you can do is give them clear goals to meet the above:

Goethe said:

„Erfolgreich zu sein setzt zwei Dinge voraus: Klare Ziele und den brennenden Wunsch, sie zu erreichen.“ – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

transl.
Being successful requires two things: Clear objectives and a burning desire to achieve them

which just about sums it up.

Find out the individuals wishes - define a goal for each of them using SMART
Specific – target a specific area for improvement.
Measurable – quantify or at least suggest an indicator of progress.
Assignable – specify who will do it.
Realistic – state what results can realistically be achieved, given available resources.
Time-related

i.e.
by the end of the season you will be rowing a 2k on the c2 ergo in under 7 minutes so that you can qualify for xxx race.