Renew Your Life Part II:

Wikipedia

Hokusai’s first iteration of The Great Wave of Kanagawa was created in 1792, and the final iteration was in 1831, when he was 72. Hokusai once said that he did not feel proud of his art until he was past 70; for him, art was never about reaching a finish line, but about constant growth, learning, and evolution.

“Eudaimonic well-being is the positive alignment of your  physical, mental, social and meaning in life”

Your capacity for stress, your ability to execute excellence under pressure, and your long-term mental health will be improved by adopting intrinsic motivational strategies such as eudaimonia. 

This blog simplifies eudaimonia to encourage you to adopt its principles and foster a motivational climate that helps you or your team flourish and live a long and prosperous life.

Intrinsic Motivation

Internal motivation is the pleasure and drive derived solely from being engaged in a task. 

Motivational Climate

Motivational climate refers to the environment, atmosphere, context, and social situation created by the coach and other athletes (or the team leader and colleagues) (Duda & Balaguer, 2007).

Eudaimonia

Eudaimonia is an Ancient Greek concept popularised by Aristotle and refers to living a lifestyle in which you focus on being your best self. Ryff & Singer (2008) define it as “striving to achieve one’s potential and excellence” (Ryff & Singer, 2008, p. 14).

The Six Core Dimensions of Eudaimonia

According to Ryff & Singer (2008), there are six core dimensions of eudaimonic well-being (EWB): personal growth, autonomy, self-acceptance, positive relations with others, environmental mastery, and purpose in life: 

• Personal growth: A feeling of continued development, being open to new experiences, and a sense of realising one’s potential over time. A complete individual remains open to ongoing growth and evolution rather than striving for a predetermined state where all issues are resolved.

• Autonomy: A fully functioning individual directs their focus inward, assessing themselves against their own standards rather than seeking the approval of others—the self-assessment results in a sense of freedom from the rules that govern daily existence.

• Self-acceptance: Understanding ourselves and accurately recognising our actions, motivations, and feelings while maintaining a positive self-image. This self-assessment requires recognising and embracing both our strengths and weaknesses.

• Positive relations with others: Having warm, satisfying, and trusting relationships; being capable of empathy, affection, and intimacy; and understanding the give-and-take of human relationships.

• Environmental mastery: A sense of competence and mastery in managing one’s environment and daily life to suit personal needs and values, and effectively leveraging surrounding opportunities.

• Purpose in life: Actively engaging in and contemplating life provides a sense of purpose and intentionality. Living authentically revolves around finding significance and direction in life. Beliefs are fundamental, as they provide guidance and meaning in life. As people go through life, their objectives and reasons may change.

Well-being

Well-being is an athlete’s ability to nurture individual talents within their lived environment and achieve positive functioning, which makes it likely that they will regularly experience happiness and satisfaction in life and sports (Lundqvist, 2023). Adopting a holistic approach incorporating eudaimonic and hedonic perspectives is essential when considering well-being in sports.

Eudaimonic Well-being

EWB is long-term well-being focused on personal growth, purpose, meaning, and high social functioning (Ryff, 2008; Lundqvist & Sander, 2014; Papaionnus, 2017; Trainor & Bundon, 2023). 

EWB promotes human potential (Ryan & Deci, 2001). EWB embodies a greater sense of purpose, significance, and intricacy that extends beyond mere emotion or result; it is a lifestyle that allows one to realise their full potential (Trainor & Bundon, 2023).

Eudaimonic Well-being Health Correlates 

Ryff and Singer’s study (2008) posits that establishing and maintaining high levels of personal growth, purpose, and quality social connections is instrumental in promoting overall health, lower cortisol levels, and lower inflammatory markers and insulin resistance. Moreover, there is a significant positive correlation between HDL cholesterol, a quicker onset, and longer REM sleep periods.

Hedonic Well-being 

Hedonic well-being (HWB) promotes happiness (Ryan & Deci, 2001) and focuses on subjective and emotional aspects, with positive effects and short-term benefits (Trainor & Bundon, 2023).

Table 1 clarifies the differences between hedonia and eudaimonia.

Table 1: Clarification of Hedonistic and Eudaimonic Well-being Perspectives

Hedonistic Perspective	Eudaimonistic Perspective
Happy life	Meaningful life
Subjective and emotional well-being	Psychological well-being
Positive effects and short-term benefits	Meaning and long-term benefits
Experiencing a high level of positive affect, a low level of negative affect, and a high degree of satisfaction with one’s life: Positive affect: pleasant moods and emotions, such as joy and excitement. Reflect on one’s assessment that life is proceeding favourably. Negative affect: unpleasant moods and emotions, such as anxiety and anger. Reflect on one’s negative assessment of life, health, and events.	Fulfilment, positive functioning, and cultivating the most excellent good are ways to overcome challenges and live a life aligned with personal goals and values.
Life satisfaction involves cognitive judgments of personally significant life domains, such as family, work, leisure, and mental and physical health. One assesses one’s current satisfaction with each significant life area and evaluates how close to ideal these are.	Eudaimonia is more than feeling that one’s life has meaning; it cultivates a higher purpose and complexity. It is not an outcome but a way of living that fulfils one’s potential.
Affective assessments of pleasure and satisfaction. Subjective well-being implies that each person assesses their own degree of well-being. People decide how satisfied they are based on their values, goals, and life circumstances.	Existential aspects: purpose in life and personal growth. Eudaimonic activities are not always pleasurable but can be challenging yet purposeful and meaningful to the individual.

Source: Trainor, L. R., & Bundon, A. (2023). Clarifying concepts: “Well-being” in sport. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 5, 1256490. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2023.1256490

Flourishing

HWB is concerned with a happy life and subjective and emotional well-being with positive effects and short-term benefits (Trainor & Bundon, 2023). Experiencing a strong sense of happiness and enthusiasm while keeping negative emotions to a minimum and feeling content with the progress of one’s life. Hedonism promotes a “me” attitude, external motivation, and rewards for results, regardless of how they were achieved, a focus on being better than others, interpersonal conflict, cheating, and aggressive behaviour; participation in sports is short-term, as the ego-oriented athlete tends to burn out.

Eudaimonia promotes a strong sense of vitality and self-worth; an “us” attitude (friendship); intrinsic reward from the joy of performing the task itself; human good; long-term participation in sports; and positive life satisfaction.

Taoist Symbol of Yin/Yang

A simple approach would be to think of hedonia and eudonia as day Vs. night direct opposites; a better approach is to think of them as complementary opposites; the journey towards eudaimonic growth and meaning is boosted by hedonic instant gratification and happiness. Trainor and Bundon (2023) observe that individuals who prioritise immediate (HWB) and long-term well-being (EWB) will generally have a more holistic sense of well-being, which is vital for optimal functioning, flourishing, and fulfilling life. 

An even better illustration of the product of hedonia and eudaimonia is the line between the yin and yang, the Taoist “middle way” – the deliberate choice of excellence that avoids excess or scarcity whilst traversing the natural rhythm and cycles of life.

Excellence 

Aristotle. Wikipedia

“Happiness is the full use of your powers along the lines of excellence.” JFK.

JFK paraphrased the concept of eudaimonia from the Ancient Greek scholars. Happiness is the domain of hedonia, the use of your full powers is personal best, which is eudaimonia. However, what is excellence? 

Excellence is the essence of EWB (Ryff, 2008). Hokusai’s attitude towards the creation of the Great Wave exemplifies EWB and excellence.

I promote EWB and excellence as the same.

Excellent performance according to Swan et al.’s (2016) criteria is not solely based on podium places; it also emphasises achieving personal bests, acts that contribute to personal growth, and accolades such as player-of-the-match or spirit-of-competition awards. Swann recommends that the athlete’s subjective interpretation of what excellence is be included in any sporting definition of excellence.

We can deepen our understanding of excellence by looking at sports, the epitome of which is the Olympic Games.

Excellence and the Olympic Games

The Olympic creed is “The important thing in life is not the triumph, but the fight; the essential thing is not to have won, but to have fought well” (International Olympic Committee, n.d) 

In 2021, the IOC changed the Olympic Games’ motto to “faster, higher, stronger—together” to recognise the importance of sports’ unifying power and solidarity (International Olympic Committee, p. 20, 2021). 

The three (inseparable) core values of the Olympic Games are excellence, friendship and respect (The Olympic Museum Education and Cultural Services, 2013).

Excellence

The ancient Greeks used “aristos” and “arete” to define their holistic and harmonious definition of excellence (Papaioannou, 2017): 

• Aristos is the holistic term given to a person who embodies the physical, mental, spiritual, and moral qualities at their best level. 
• Arete is “excellence of any kind” (personal best). In sports, arete is the physical and mental balance point that fuses physical prowess, skill, determination, passion and good sportsmanship, and the deliberate choice of action that harmonises the middle point between excess or deficiency in physical activity, effort and social well-being:
  • Physical activity, whether untrained or overtrained, can cause health issues
  • Effort and cheating: honest effort is excellent; cheating to win is not.
  • Social well-being requires shared goal pursuit and the integration of perspectives without obliging, dominating, or avoiding disagreements to overcome them.

Friendship

A eudaimonic environment supports the growth of others through authentic and caring behaviours on and off the court. Aristotle stated that friendships based only on the hedonic pleasure of most sports environments are short-term and do not develop excellence.

Respect

Respecting oneself and one’s body involves prioritising health and ensuring a balance between training and recovery. Respecting one another means cooperating with teammates to resolve conflicts and discouraging obliging, dominating, and avoidance styles that diminish teammates’ well-being. Respect for opponents, officials, and spectators means sustaining peace and contributing to a thriving sporting community by finding the balance among the interests of all stakeholders. Respect for the rules, winning through cheating others or deceiving others about your effort does not promote excellence or lead to EWB. Respect and moral behaviour in sports occur through internal motivation and individuals’ pursuit of excellence and EWB.

EWB (and excellence) is long-term well-being focused on personal growth, purpose, meaning, and high social functioning (Ryff, 2008; Lundqvist & Sander, 2014; Papaionnus, 2017; Trainor & Bundon, 2023). Ryff and Singer (2008, p.14) said, “The essence of eudaimonia—the idea of striving toward excellence based on one’s unique potential. Excellence, then, is in the eye of the beholder, and perhaps we use these tokens to redefine success?

Success

Many athletes have a large gap between what they can execute in training Vs what they can do under competition pressure. The difference can be due to several reasons, such as overconfidence and unrealistic goal-setting. However, this failure is primarily due to an over-expectation of winning as a measure of success, and/or an over-emphasis on factors outside one’s control, i.e., opponents.

When one focuses on what they can control and measures success by executing training standards (or better) in competition, then pressure is reduced (thus creating a favourable, calm climate conducive to personal bests), long-term mental health is promoted, and burnout risk is minimised.

When success is determined by executing your skills, strategies, and tactics to the best of your ability in training and under competition pressure, you will promote the intrinsically rewarded state of flourishing. Flourishing (happiness and meaning) motivates continued commitment and effort, and along with it, personal growth (success) and long-term mental health.

In 1985, I was in a national gymnastics development squad where we were given a list of positive “self-talk” mantras by Mako Sakamoto, Coach of the 1984 Olympic Gold medal men’s team. This list started my interest in the importance of mental preparation. I memorised it and thereafter wrote it on the front page of many of my journals. In 1994, I won a coaching award and a book by Ken Hodge called Sport Motivation; Inside that book was the same positive self-talk list used by New Zealand record-achieving cricketer Sir Richard Hadlee. One of the self-talk phrases that I use to help alleviate pressure is “winning is being happy with your performance, even if somebody does it better”; in 2026, and after completing my MSc dissertation in Eudaimonia and Clutch Performance in sports, I now paraphrase that as…

 “Success is being happy with your performance, even if somebody does it better.”

Fostering a Successful EWB Motivational Climate: “Better People Make Better All Blacks”

Photo Credit: Fans of Saint Mary’s College of California Rugby Facebook page

I came across Professor Ken Hodge’s (Otago University) work again while researching possible subjects for my MSc assignments. Hodge is a proponent of Self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2016), which promotes autonomy, competence/environmental mastery/excellence, and positive relations with others. Hodge co-wrote several articles on excellence in sport with the coaches of the New Zealand national rugby team (All Blacks): one article that is an example of the six core dimensions of eudaimonia, excellence and success is  A Case Study of Excellence in Elite Sport: Motivational Climate in a World Champion Team (2014). These articles explain how the All Black coaches transformed a team that underperformed at World Cups into repeat world cup-winning form by implementing a “no dickhead” policy and a belief that “better people make better All Blacks”. 

This “being a better person” is the high-level social functioning mentioned by Ryff (2008), Lundqvist & Sander (2014), Papaionnus (2017); and Trainor & Bundon (2023). Kindness, or random acts of kindness, is part of being a better person – small acts like opening a door for a person, taking your coffee cup back to the serving counter, are rewarded both intrinsically and extrinsically (if it is accompanied by a “thank-you”). What is more, they accumulate according to the metaphysical laws of reciprocity and karma. 

Kindness, gratitude, and meditation are part of the curriculum of the Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Life (MBCT-L), Mindful Sport Performance Enhancement, and other mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) courses, based on the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn.

This high-level social functioning is seen with acts of grace and sportsmanship that transcend the podium.

 “Belonging” by Owen Eastwood and “Legacy” by Steve Kerr are excellent books that highlight the intrinsic/altruistic rewards of high-level social functioning. I recommend these books if you are an athlete seeking long-term success or a coach or team leader seeking inspiration to increase your team’s cohesiveness. Legacy is a book about the “No dickheads policy” of the All Blacks and the actions of Professor Ken Hodge, Sir Wayne Smith, Sir Graham Henry, Sir Steve Hansen and Gilbert Enoka coaching that transformed the team into the most successful team of all time. 

UCLA Basketball Coach John Wooden created a success pyramid that parallels EWB ideals.

Photo credit Amazon

Ted Lasso and EWB Motivational Culture

Ted Lasso is a TV show and the name of the main character, a fictional soccer coach in the English Premier League. Ted Lasso embodies John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success and eudaimonic excellence. The series follows his trials and tribulations as he transforms Richmond’s faulty football culture into a thriving EWB culture. If you are a sports coach or team leader of any kind, I highly recommend watching all three seasons (season four is coming, and rumours are that it will be based on a women’s team). A sample is provided below. Spoiler warning: The clip below is a massive spoiler for the most clever and pertinent lesson of the show.

Richmond Players Rebuild the BELIEVE Poster Greyhounds Ted Lasso Season 3 Episode 12 Finale

Summary 

Fostering an EWB motivational climate empowers athletes to take tactical risks without fear of internal or external punishment. A tactical risk may result in a personal best, a winning outcome, a player-of-the-match award, or a highlight-reel accolade. The confidence to take these risks may be the difference between winning and losing a World Cup final. If the risk does not pay off, an EWB empowered athlete views it as a learning opportunity; failure occurs only when the athlete or team fails to learn from the experience.

Eudaimonic well-being is “the positive alignment of your physical, mental, social and meaning in life.”  Excellence is making a deliberate choice to avoid excess or scarcity in any of these aspects and to pursue your personal best in doing so.

Eudaimonia extends beyond just feeling that one’s life is meaningful; it entails nurturing a greater sense of purpose and depth (Trainor & Bundon, 2023). It is not merely an outcome but a lifestyle that empowers individuals to achieve their full potential. Eudaimonic well-being (EWB) involves finding fulfilment, functioning positively, and striving for the greatest good to overcome obstacles and lead a life aligned with personal aspirations and principles.

There are many layers to this stress reduction and pressure alleviating equation; to this end, I offer a practical success, excellence and EWB list: 

Success, Excellence and EWB layers for competitors: (I am happy to discuss the order).

1. Coming home healthy and fit after a sporting event.
2. Did you give your best effort in the situation? (Doing your best is all anyone, including yourself, can ask of you.)
3. Acts that transcend the podium: sportsmanship, kindness, grace.
4. Subjective feeling of excellent achievement by the athlete.
5. Executing skills, strategy and tactics in competition to the same standards as one does in training.
6. Achieving personal bests in competition.
7. Achieving forecasted times or final position (crystal ball gazing).
8. Podium outcomes are a by-product of executing excellence.

Renew Your Life Next Steps

1. Reflect on your stress reflections on Part I
2. Reflect on EWB in Part II 
3. Integrate into your life to strengthen your motivation for change.
4. Further articles will outline how to develop and align physically (movement and nutrition), mentally, socially and purpose in life. We will also explore eudaimonic-related goal setting and achievement goal theory, as well as self-determination theory.

Finally, I leave you with this last bit of EWB coaching advice:

“Do your best today, so that you will be better tomorrow”

Thank you for reading this far, and please feel free to like, comment and share this article with others who you think can benefit from it.

www.rosseathorne.com

Recommended reading.

Eastwood, O. (2022). Belonging. Hachette Mobius.

Kaufman, K. A., Glass, C. R., & Pineau, T. R. (2017). Mindful Sport Performance Enhancement: Mental Training for Athletes and Coaches. American Psychological Association.

Kerr, J. (2013). Legacy. Little, Brown.

Ted Lasso  – Apple TV

References

Duda, J. L., & Balaguer, I. (2007). Coach-Created Motivational Climate. In S. Jowette & D. Lavallee (Eds.), Social Psychology in Sport (pp. 117–130). Human Kinetics. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781492595878.ch-009

https://www.instagram.com/historycoolkids?igsh=M2dibGR6ZzNlem1z

Hodge, K. (1994). Sport Motivation: Training Your Mind For Peak Performance. Penguin Group New Zealand, Limited. https://www.amazon.com/Sport-Motivation-Ken-Hodge/dp/079000335X?ref_=ast_author_mpb

Hodge, K., Henry, G., & Smith, W. (2014). A case study of excellence in elite sport: Motivational climate in a world champion team. The Sport Psychologist, 28(1), 60–74. https://www.selfdeterminationtheory.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/2014_HodgeHenrySmith.pdf

International Olympic Committee. (2023, October 15). Olympic Motto. Olympics.com/IOC. Retrieved July 18, 2024, from https://stillmed.olympics.com/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/General/EN-Olympic-Charter.pdf

International Olympic Committee. (n.d.). Olympic Creed. olympics.com/ioc. Retrieved July 18, 2024, from https://olympics.com/ioc/faq/olympic-symbol-and-identity/what-is-the-olympic-creed

International Olympic Committee. (n.d.). Olympic values. Olympic Games Paris 2024. Retrieved July 28, 2024, from https://olympics.com/ioc/olympic-values

Lundqvist, C., & Sandin, F. (2014). Well-being in elite sport: Dimensions of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being among elite orienteers. The Sport Psychologist, 28(3), 245-254.

https://doi.org/10.1123/tsp.2013-0024

Papaioannou, A. G. (2017). Teaching a holistic, harmonious and internal motivational concept of excellence to promote Olympic ideals, health and well-being for all. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 36(3), 353–368. https://doi.org/10.1123/jtpe.2017-0064

Ryan, R.M., & Deci, E.L. (2016). Self-determination theory. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

Ryff, C. D., & Singer, B. H. (2008). Know thyself and become what you are: A eudaimonic approach to psychological well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9, 13–39.

Swann, C., Crust, L., Jackman, P., Vella, S. A., Allen, M. S., & Keegan, R. (2016). Performing under pressure: Exploring the psychological state underlying clutch performance in sport. Journal of Sports Sciences, 35(23), 2272–2280. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2016.1265661

Trainor, L. R., & Bundon, A. (2023). Clarifying concepts: “Well-being” in sport. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 5, 1256490. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2023.1256490