Setting Up a Satisfying Season

by Mimi Winsberg, M.D.

In this month of New Year’s resolutions, conversations turn towards the question: “So, what’s in store for this season?” A new year is a clean slate, full of promise, ready to be inscribed with training blocks, events, and we hope, new personal records.

In considering how to mark up that slate so that it will deliver your most satisfying season, I’d like to explore some principles behind the psychology of satisfaction. I hope that reflecting on these ideas will help with the approach to your season plan.

Principal #1: Happiness is Absorption
The relationship between motivation, reward, stress, and satisfaction is complicated at best.
What has reliably been shown to improve satisfaction (and from there performance) is what the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls “flow” -- a state of engagement and absorption in the task at hand.

Finding flow in your athletic journey may actually involve letting go of outcome. This seems counter-intuitive, but by removing stress about outcome, it will free you to focus and fully commit to the process. Develop a passion for training, become absorbed in the process and satisfaction will follow.

(For more on 'flow' in sport, see my "Grace Under Pressure" column from this past fall.)

Principle #2: Completion is Key
The level of satisfaction we feel about a project or endeavor is highly dependent on being able to complete it. People will place more value on a job, endeavor, or race that they were able to finish. A workout or event that goes unfinished will be less satisfying than a more doable one where you can check the box after the fact. Psychologist Dan Ariely has shown completion to be a key ingredient for pride and ownership of one’s work. Think about your ability to complete the goals that you set for yourself. Make then achievable.

Principle #3: The Goldilocks Principle
Goals should be achievable, but how challenging should they be? In general the harder the effort, the more satisfaction we feel. Harder effort positively changes our view of the outcome. Even if we run into some stress and frustration along the way, emotionally, we place higher value on hard efforts as long as we are able to complete the task.

A race finished under difficult conditions will ultimately be a more prized feather in our cap. Experiences we call “epic,” “an adventure,” or “the real deal” are the ones we will tell stories about for years to come. Most of us secretly know that the definition of adventure is “misery recollected in comfort,” but a completed adventure is still oh-so satisfying.

Finding the right challenges is like Goldilocks finding the right bowl of porridge. Not too hot, not too cold, but just right.

Principle #4: The Status-Quo Bias
All human beings have a status-quo bias. We have a tendency to want to keep things the way they are and avoid change unless the incentive to change is very compelling. This likely stems at least in part from loss aversion. By making change, we usually have to give something up. Psychologists (Kahneman) have found that even individuals open to new experience have some status-quo bias, and tend to prioritize avoiding potential loss over pursuing potential gain.

We also underestimate our ability to adapt to change, and undervalue the satisfaction that change will bring. Look for your own status-quo bias. How many years in a row have you trained the same way, or registered for the same events? Are there changes you’ve thought about but have been hesitant to make? Have the courage to try something new in 2011.