How To Gain Momentum

A new workout routine, a new workplace process or building a new business. At the beginning it can feel very slow and there is an initial pain period when you’re doing something that you aren’t used to doing. It can feel like it takes forever and is a bit of a drag.

This is when most of us give up and go back to our old ways. We start off with a new workout routine and it hurts. You aren’t very good at it, you aren’t very fit and your legs and abs are so freaking sore. You don’t quit straight away, but you miss one or two workouts. Maybe you also skip a few meals, or just have a few drinks on a Friday afternoon - because you know, you earned it. That turns into a hangover on Saturday and then you don’t go back to the gym until Tuesday. Then it takes a larger conscious effort to get the wheels moving again. It’s all too easy just to stop right there – it was a silly idea anyway, I mean, you aren’t the type of person who can be fit or build your own business, right?

Alternatively, you could have done what the winners do.

Push a little bit harder. Do the things that you know you SHOULD be doing. Make a conscious effort into making sure you stick to your PLAN that you so diligently wrote out when you were motivated. It isn’t forever because soon something will take over for you – an autopilot if you will.

That magical force that takes the wheel is called “Momentum”.

Let’s say you push through the hard part and then you see some results. You want to go harder now. Everything starts to come together and you have a hunger for more results. In the beginning you were flat out struggling, now you feel a bit more competent and that is fuel for the fire. Before you know it, you’re the passionate and enthusiastic addict, spreading the love of good health.

In business you have that initial hustle. It is a bit of a drag and you could quit anytime. Then all of a sudden, you get a new client - A great client at that. A newfound passion and excitement takes over and then from out of nowhere a second one comes along. Then a third.

You’re busy but your confidence is high and you are hungry for more success. You start booking events or connecting with others to do things that are well outside of your comfort zone, but you are on a roll and are hungry to help more people. It snowballs and before you know it, you are killing it and surpassing goals.

That is what is called momentum, but it won’t happen until you push past that pain period. It doesn’t magically come around, and you won’t find it with some initial motivation. Continue to make a conscious effort on the decisions that should be made and it won’t take long to get some momentum.

Have a vision and set the goals or the stepping stones to get there, but the first goal should be to get some momentum. It takes a lot of energy for an oil tanker to get moving off the wharf – in fact, it needs a few tugs as assistance. But once it gains some momentum, it is very hard to slow it down or change the direction.