I've seen a few people struggle with motivation to play osu. They want to play the game but struggle because they become frustrated, bored or loose their love for the game. Motivation is a tricky subject so I will share my thoughts on it and If you have anything to add comment on this post or send me a dm : )
There are quite a few factors that influence motivation but one way to look at it is that you can split it into psychological and physiological influences. Your psychology changes how you view setbacks, your goals and your day to day experience of the game. Your physiology is how your body is performing, i.e how rested you are, your nutrition, etc. Both physiology and psychology have a strong impact on how much you want to play.
Psychology:
We all have different goals for playing games. Some of us use it as an escape, some love a challenge, some want to show off, some want to beat their friends scores. However not all goals are equal when it comes to how resilient and powerful it makes you as a player.
Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation
Different goals can be defined as either an intrinsic or extrinsic motivator.
Extrinsic motivation is defined as something you want outside of yourself. This could be a cool score, pp, the admiration of others or how well you are performing at any given moment. These motivators can be powerful in the short term but are highly dependent on factors you cannot control and so they are unreliable at times.
Intrinsic motivation comes from within yourself and is not dependent on anything outside yourself. Examples include: loosing yourself in the game, enjoying the game, appreciating how it feels to play the game, enjoying the journey of improvement. These motivators don't pack the same punch as extrinsic motivators but in my opinion these type of motivators are the most powerful long term because they can be present in every play session.
Cultivating a Good Mindset
We will usually have a combination of both intrinsic and extrinsic goals. I've observed that people who burn out and quit usually have an excessive focus on their extrinsic goals. The mind is like a spotlight and we can guide it to different part of our mind to influence how we perceive any situation.
How we guide our spotlight is mostly by habit but you can take control of it to build the habit of viewing the situation in a healthy way. The more you focus on intrinsic motivation, the more content and chilled out you will feel playing the game.
Make it a habit to catch yourself when you become frustrated or angry. Why are you feeling this way? Did you choke an FC? Are you playing worse than usual? Remind yourself in these moments to shift your focus back to intrinsic motivators. Dont worry about choking a play because if you have the skill you will get it eventually. If you are playing bad who cares? Have fun with it and eventually your bad performance will pass. It will be hard to change your perspective on the game at first but the more you do it the more natural it will become.
Physiology:
Physiology is also a massive factor in your motivation. It doesn't matter how good your mindset is if you are sleep deprived, hungover or malnourished. Your body and mind are connected so if your body is unhealthy then your mind will suffer as a consequence.
Sleep
Get as much sleep as you can and try to keep to a regular schedule even on weekends (if possible). There is no such thing as too much sleep or too much rest. If you are able to sleep then your body needs it. Long and regular sleep usually takes a while to give benefits so if you feel groggy from sleeping more give it time and you will see yourself becoming more focused and awake later on.
Drugs and Alcohol
Avoid alcohol (duh) and any other substances that alters your body, including caffeine. Your body is designed to have the correct neurochemistry at all times. You don't need a substance to relax you or make you more awake. These substances are Band-Aids for a deeper problem that you need to fix with other methods other than medicating.
Nutrition
How you eat will determine how well you can recover and your energy day to day. The obvious solution is to cut sugar, reduce junk foods, fast foods etc. Next you need to add more high quality nutritious foods and eliminate foods that agitate your gut. Animal foods have the highest nutrition per gram compared to vegetables and so meat should prioritized if you want to maximize nutrition. Some things to avoid are: grains, dairy proteins/sugars, fibre, fructose and seed oils.
For more info on how to eat well check out some videos on keto/carnivore ways of eating.
TL:DR
Optimize your mindset and your health and you will see improvement in osu.
There are quite a few factors that influence motivation but one way to look at it is that you can split it into psychological and physiological influences. Your psychology changes how you view setbacks, your goals and your day to day experience of the game. Your physiology is how your body is performing, i.e how rested you are, your nutrition, etc. Both physiology and psychology have a strong impact on how much you want to play.
Psychology:
We all have different goals for playing games. Some of us use it as an escape, some love a challenge, some want to show off, some want to beat their friends scores. However not all goals are equal when it comes to how resilient and powerful it makes you as a player.
Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation
Different goals can be defined as either an intrinsic or extrinsic motivator.
Extrinsic motivation is defined as something you want outside of yourself. This could be a cool score, pp, the admiration of others or how well you are performing at any given moment. These motivators can be powerful in the short term but are highly dependent on factors you cannot control and so they are unreliable at times.
Intrinsic motivation comes from within yourself and is not dependent on anything outside yourself. Examples include: loosing yourself in the game, enjoying the game, appreciating how it feels to play the game, enjoying the journey of improvement. These motivators don't pack the same punch as extrinsic motivators but in my opinion these type of motivators are the most powerful long term because they can be present in every play session.
Cultivating a Good Mindset
We will usually have a combination of both intrinsic and extrinsic goals. I've observed that people who burn out and quit usually have an excessive focus on their extrinsic goals. The mind is like a spotlight and we can guide it to different part of our mind to influence how we perceive any situation.
How we guide our spotlight is mostly by habit but you can take control of it to build the habit of viewing the situation in a healthy way. The more you focus on intrinsic motivation, the more content and chilled out you will feel playing the game.
Make it a habit to catch yourself when you become frustrated or angry. Why are you feeling this way? Did you choke an FC? Are you playing worse than usual? Remind yourself in these moments to shift your focus back to intrinsic motivators. Dont worry about choking a play because if you have the skill you will get it eventually. If you are playing bad who cares? Have fun with it and eventually your bad performance will pass. It will be hard to change your perspective on the game at first but the more you do it the more natural it will become.
Physiology:
Physiology is also a massive factor in your motivation. It doesn't matter how good your mindset is if you are sleep deprived, hungover or malnourished. Your body and mind are connected so if your body is unhealthy then your mind will suffer as a consequence.
Sleep
Get as much sleep as you can and try to keep to a regular schedule even on weekends (if possible). There is no such thing as too much sleep or too much rest. If you are able to sleep then your body needs it. Long and regular sleep usually takes a while to give benefits so if you feel groggy from sleeping more give it time and you will see yourself becoming more focused and awake later on.
Drugs and Alcohol
Avoid alcohol (duh) and any other substances that alters your body, including caffeine. Your body is designed to have the correct neurochemistry at all times. You don't need a substance to relax you or make you more awake. These substances are Band-Aids for a deeper problem that you need to fix with other methods other than medicating.
Nutrition
How you eat will determine how well you can recover and your energy day to day. The obvious solution is to cut sugar, reduce junk foods, fast foods etc. Next you need to add more high quality nutritious foods and eliminate foods that agitate your gut. Animal foods have the highest nutrition per gram compared to vegetables and so meat should prioritized if you want to maximize nutrition. Some things to avoid are: grains, dairy proteins/sugars, fibre, fructose and seed oils.
For more info on how to eat well check out some videos on keto/carnivore ways of eating.
TL:DR
Optimize your mindset and your health and you will see improvement in osu.