Beware the gap between achieving and re-focusing your energies on new goals. For every person who sets goals, there inevitably comes a time when they need to review them, tick them off and set some more goals. And I am no different.
The past 3 months have been incredibly productive for me, and I have been able to tick off some big-ticket items on my goals list. However, it has also led to some inertia that has been frustrating and downright confusing. I now realise I have been basking in the glow of achievement to the extent that I have been unable to get focused again until now. Thankfully my diary has kept me going. For those who follow me, you will have noticed that I haven’t posted for 3-4 weeks and that’s because I have had what many might call ‘writer’s block’. But in truth I think it’s because I am yet to find the balance between celebrating my achievements and progressing forward. I have made the effort to knowledge my achievements, which I generally struggle with, and ignored or conveniently forgot to progress with revised goals and momentum. Fortunately, I have found a way to and emerge and re-focus.
Momentum is multi-faceted; it is much more that just getting things done. Here’s what you need to know about gaining and maintaining momentum.
3 Aspects of Momentum
1. Momentum of Thought
All momentum begins here. Without your thoughts in aligning with your goals, you’re going to struggle and possibly never get anywhere. The momentum of thought happens when you start thinking about your goals and getting curious about them, so you explore them further and the goals become more detailed and refined. A thought gains momentum when it’s ready to transfer into action.
Without the momentum of thought, you may tend not to make goals at all. Rather you entertain ideas instead. Not to say an idea isn’t a good thing as all goals start with ideas. However, by continuously reflecting on an idea you refine it. Your curiosity helps you to work out the details and potential problems. You start seeing it from a variety of angles, and eventually, you prepare yourself to take this idea out into the world and work towards it. It’s here in this process where the idea becomes a goal. Without goals, we’ll never create forward momentum in our lives. Without the momentum of thought, you’ll quickly find you may be adopting someone else’s goals to work towards.
2. Momentum of Action
Action becomes the natural output of a thought which has gained momentum. Now you’re ready to put the thought into action by defining the goal in such a way that you know what it would be like when you achieve it. Chunk down to repeatable actions to bring you closer to your goal and incorporate those activities until they become integrated and habitual. The habitual actions provide momentum. If you are struggling with gaining or maintaining momentum, it’s possible you may need to return back to your momentum of thought for further refining. If you continue without adjustments, you may find your momentum burns out just as quickly as it arrived. It’s not unusual when introducing change to need to repeat this process 3 or 4 times, perhaps even more depending on the challenge you have set yourself.
The momentum of action is required if you want to achieve your goals. A goal is nothing more than a wish until you start to define it, put a timeline against it, and start working towards it. Often goals cannot be achieved overnight, so you’re going to need to stay the course to see them realised. Momentum of action is what keeps you on track and prevents the goal from dragging out forever. Without it, you’re much more likely to stall and not complete the goal at all, let alone revise it.
3. Momentum of Relationship
This is the momentum of action with an added component: the need for someone else to share it with. Now your action is focused on someone else, either friend, co-worker, family member, partner or client. Your interaction and relationship is something you’re cultivating regularly (the repeating factor) as you develop more unity with the other person. In a work setting, this means settling into a rhythm where you can accomplish mutual goals together, with a close cohesion which eventually leads to building an unstoppable unit. In a romantic relationship, the forward motion leads to genuine intimacy and tends to culminate in ways that secure the relationship on a more permanent basis.
Momentum in a relationship is necessary if you want to be a team player, i.e., interdependent rather than completely independent. Sure, you can achieve your goals without momentum of relationship however it can quickly become an isolated and lonely place. Often momentum in relationship is under-rated however there is real value in sharing ideas, troubleshooting problems with others and sharing wins.
Momentum isn’t something you can just leave to chance. It requires constant attention even when you’re taking time to celebrate wins! (That’s my learning). If you wait for momentum to just happen, you may find yourself scrambling at the last minute to try and get things done, or worse, you’ll talk yourself out of the goal and never start at all.
Momentum needs to be reliable so that when you stumble or stall, you’re able to start again when you want and how you want. What if you can create momentum whenever you want and keep it going for as long as you needed it? If you would like some help with maintaining momentum with your goals, please book in a confidential call with me and we can explore together how you can maintain momentum and enjoy your achievements along the way.
