Miriam Kohlhaas: Stay hungry, Mr. Tom Brady!

Half the world is watching as the New England Patriots face the Atlanta Falcons in the final of the world's biggest sports event. And one player has the chance to win his 5th ring - Tom Brady, quarterback of the Patriots (Super Bowl winner of the seasons 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014). Someone from whom we can all learn a lot. On the topic: How can one stay highly motivated for many years and never become complacent despite great and recurring successes? In the year 2000, Tom Brady was drafted in the sixth of seven rounds at pick number 199 and initially was only the fourth quarterback for the Patriots. Since the 2001 season - his first Super Bowl win - he has consistently led his team to at least the playoffs, the final round of the championship, every year. He has managed to win it four times to date. On Sunday (live at 11:15 p.m. on Sat1 and ProSieben Maxx as well as ran.de), he will once again lead his team in the Super Bowl. From a sports psychology perspective, as someone who is active in American football, I ask the following questions: How did this Tom Brady manage to maintain this incredible level for over 16 years? What drives him? What is his secret? Why and how did he manage - especially after setbacks - to come back better than ever? He partially provides the answer himself - significant are the minutes 14 to 22: https://youtu.be/Tr2B9RaHJBc?t=13m57s Pure Confidence After Brady came to the Patriots in a really poor position as the 4th quarterback, he introduced himself to the coaching staff at the time by saying that he was "the best decision the club has ever made." A bold statement, considering his draft position. However, when he got the chance to start in 2001 due to the injury of the then 1st quarterback Drew Bledsoe, he told one of his teammates that he would never give up this position again from now on. He turned out to be right. In my applied work, I have seen many players who had a high opinion of themselves and their way of playing, but never really followed through on that statement. Tom Brady, on the other hand, has fulfilled all the promises he made to himself and others back then. Motivation and Volition To learn from his case, it is worth focusing on aspects such as motivation and volition (will) or intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. It seems that Brady is driven by a high intrinsic process motivation, as well as an internal self-concept. Simplified, this means that he accomplishes his tasks for their own sake - because he enjoys it (e.g., J. and H. Heckhausen, 2010). Successful athletes are able to set clear goals and pursue them. These goals are meant to be realistic but also very challenging (e.g., Gabler 1995). These athletes share an internal self-concept where the achievement motive is strongly pronounced. It seems, as in Brady's case, that these athletes have internalized an ideal conception as a guideline for their actions. Not just watching the Super Bowl - absorb it! So let's use the Super Bowl to refuel our inspiration. Because what exceptional talents like Brady demonstrate, we can also use for our own performance optimization. So, if you want to work on yourself a bit, you could ask yourself the following guiding question on Super Bowl night, which I have provided with some hints: Do you remember the feeling when you were last truly hungry for sporting success?

• Find (or reignite) that fire that drives you and keeps you up at night!
• Don't let yourself be limited by other people or your own fears and thoughts.
• Work hard, dream big, become who you've always wanted to be!

In this sense - Stay hungry, Mr. Brady! And all you fantastic athletes out there, stay hungry too! For more information about Miriam Kohlhaas, please visit: https://www.deutsches-rednerlexikon.de/redner/miriam-kohlhaas.html