Motivation – some say you are born with it, others acquire it, but almost everyone needs it to be successful in windsurfing. So what are the secret ingredients of the ‘m-word’?, what motivates the world’s best? John Carter asks the great and the good for their thoughts.
Words & Photos John Carter
Originally published within the September ’17 edition.
ROBBY NAISH
“Finding motivation to hit the water has seldom been a problem for me. Finding motivation to sit down and do emails or take on other real life obligations is where I have often come up short. For me the never-ending quest to improve, to go play in the surf, and to simply have fun doing the sports that I love and somehow continue to get paid for it was motivation enough to keep me frothing most of the time. As time slowly takes its toll on my quest to keep the universe around me simple, the inevitable complexities of life and the burdens (real work responsibilities outside of riding wind and waves for a living) and joys (spending time with family, tinkering on project cars) that come with it slowly tarnish the total focus to want to be in the water at any cost and above all else. I used to put absolutely everything on the “back burner” if the conditions were good so that I could be out there and not miss a good session on the water. These days I still don’t like missing a good day at Ho’okipa, but I realized not too long ago that life still goes on if I do miss a few sessions. In fact, right now I find that I have so many incredible days at Ho’okipa under my belt, and so many incredible moments on and around the water from decades of riding around the world…. and so many priceless memories of events, sessions, photo shoots, wipe-outs, generations of windsurf friends, new equipment, old equipment etc. etc., that I am honestly finding an unfamiliar satisfaction in occasionally doing other things now. I have had an incredibly lucky life. I have lived with passion, purpose, commitment, and an undying love and appreciation for the work and life that I have. I am still pretty selfish and self-centred. I would still rather go and ride waves more than I want to do most other things most of the time…. no lack of motivation there. I just realized at 54 years old that there is still life between waves…and there is still time enough to enjoy both.
But to answer your question, when times get tough… there is nothing that helps settle them back down better than some good time on the water.”
When times get tough… there is nothing that helps settle them back down better than some good time on the water.