MOMENTUM IN A PANDEMIC

by Robyn Unwin

But that feeling of motivated direction completely circled the drain in March when I spent a whole month completely unmoored from my daily activities. No appointment pings telling me where to be next, no scheduled commitments to hitch my feelings of achievement to and an entire summer’s worth of video shoots canceled or postponed.  

I’m probably not the only one who had to get creative and innovative to keep my stick on the ice with my business during this time. Finding certainty in uncertain times has been a challenge, but here are a few ideas I’ve found to anchor myself and rebuild momentum:

3 ROCKS a day:

The parable of the Rocks, Pebbles and Sand spoke to me while trying to keep an eye on my priorities.  I sucked at this in March and April, so by May, it was time for a Strategic Planning Shakedown. I made a list of my top ten business priorities for the next quarter. I started a system of choosing 3 “Rocks” for each day - my 3 most Mission Critical tasks - and as long as I checked those off, I could do whatever I wanted for the rest of the day. I even made a ‘star chart’ for gamification, and right now I’m on track to finish all of those quarterly priorities well ahead of time. I’m actually surprised as I write this since it was actually FUN, and I didn’t feel like I was pushing myself. But I think keeping one eye on the prize and the other on the 3 most important to-do’s in each day definitely helped get my momentum up.

Quantity Over Quality:

For me, nothing snuffs out momentum faster than perfectionism, something I consider to be my Achilles heel as a video creator. It’s easy to get overly precise about the details of video production, especially when there’s no schedule or deadline. James Clear, with his book Atomic Habits, has helped me here. He tells the story of a class of photography students: half were graded on producing 100 photos - ie. by quantity - and the other half were graded on the quality of just one photo. It’s no surprise that at the end of the term, the students who had consistently been taking more photos ended up being more skilled photographers and creating better work. I keep saying to myself that ‘Done is better than perfect’, and that mantra has kept me moving through a lot of the little ‘tech eddies’ that sap my momentum. 

Create Certainty:

These are unusual times, yet it’s been an opportunity to examine the way I run my business and how to bring more of my creative self to my day. My momentum may have been a little patchy for parts of 2020, but I remind myself that we’re all experiencing a historic lack of predictability. In the midst of so much uncertainty, the best thing I can do is create as much certainty as I can with my daily tasks, and look for the small, fun ways to keep my game up!

HOW DO WE KEEP MOVING FORWARD IN A WORLD THAT HAS TEMPORARILY PAUSED?

by Laura Wittig

Amidst a global pandemic, where my life looks drastically different than it did even a year ago,

I find it increasingly important to identify the things that give me motivation. I do this by being very “tuned in” to my inner voice - AKA my intuition. I take special note of the activities and work  that give me a “YES” feeling - and those that give me a “NO.” When I am able to replicate the activities that always feel like a “YES,” - this is where my momentum is born.

It is important to remember that even though we live in a time of “instant gratification,” this is not how we gain momentum.

Momentum cannot occur if you never start. Whether it is a project, fixing a problem, or even something seemingly simple like remembering to move or exercise each day, the key is taking those first steps.

I have identified that I feel much better physically AND mentally if I  exercise daily. Even though I know this about myself (this is a YES feeling), I still sometimes go for periods where I do not exercise. And even though I have identified this as being something that makes me feel better - I still have stopped doing it. I have let my momentum die.

Why has this happened?  

When I started at home workouts - I started slow. 15 minutes a day up to 30 etc. This was my momentum growing. I felt great with 30 minutes of exercise and amazing with an hour. And then I stopped. Today, the concept of an hour long workout seems daunting, even though I know I can do it, and I know it feels great. But I have no motivation OR momentum.

So what can I do?

In order to gain momentum, you simply have to start. Don’t compare yourself to anything or anyone else. The key is to just start. It can be a ten minute walk, it can be anything. Because I have identified this “YES,” I know that the walk will feel great, and that I will be ready for a little bit more tomorrow. That is my momentum returning. Once I start and then conquer little by little, I am motivated to do more and do better next time. This same principle is constant throughout everything in my life - home projects, work, solving personal conflict. Just start. The momentum will follow if it is a “YES” for you. 

MOMENTUM - THE VISIBLE FORCE FOR CHANGE

by David Fyfe

Momentum can work for us or against us, in the same way hitting goals can amplify and work for us, a series of perceived small defeats can build a wall that seems to stop all forward movement. “When it rains it pours” is often said when bad events start to build on each other and we feel cursed. We have all experienced that moment when it feels like the world is working against us. This is when this idea of momentum feels like it is moving us backwards, not forwards.

I remember when I had just become a shiny new business to business sales representative. I had just graduated from college at the top of my class and was eager (and a bit cocky) to get started presenting and selling products my new territory. I prided myself in having a very “scientific” approach to sales and was very prepared going into my meetings. My confidence was high, and I was ready to make my mark, but slowly the wind was taken out of my sails, I kept hearing the word NO. So many NO’s, an overwhelming amount of them, for a multitude of reasons.

Everyday I would go home and lick my wounded ego and after about 6 months of what felt like a solid wall of NO’s I was starting to question my abilities and my choice of career. But just before I started to polish my resume something magical happened, a key (and hard to crack) customer said YES! He told me he liked my approach and wanted to say yes earlier, but he wanted me to “earn” his business. From this victory I felt validated and my meeting success started to climb. Don’t get me wrong, I still heard a lot of NO’s (nature of most business) but suddenly many of my days were sprinkled with success. My meeting momentum continued to build, with each success building on one another, and even a NO gave me an opportunity to learn and find a way to “earn” the business. I feel my career began that day, that YES was at an important crossroads for me and I have been riding the momentum of that moment ever since.

“Commitment is the ignitor of momentum” – Peggy Wood

If we agree that momentum is a force, we want working for us, how do we stack the odds in our favour and harness all the horsepower of momentum to move us in the direction of our goals and dreams.

Here are three important areas to think about when building positive momentum.

FOCUS 

Where we put our focus our energy follows, putting a spotlight on what we say is important is key to steering momentum in our favour. Committing to and accomplishing small objectives will spark momentum and create movement towards your goals and dreams. New plateaus in life will be reached and from this new perspective we will have greater clarity to the next steps we need to take.

SELF-CARE 

If commitment is the ignitor, then self-care is the fuel to keep the momentum moving in the right direction. Self-care can take many forms, yoga, running, weight training, group fitness, meditation, healthy diet, time in nature, lots of water, prayer to name a few. Taking time for yourself to feel healthy in body, mind, and spirit, and stay connected to what is important in your core is key to staying grounded to what is most important in your life. 

SUPPORT 

Shared goals have a significantly better chance of being achieved than ones keep to yourself. When we speak about our goals and dreams to others they come into sharper focus and become more real and achievable. We also gain the benefit of being held accountable to what we say is important by people close to us and we also can count on positive support when we inevitably encounter tough times.

“For any movement to gain momentum, it must start with a small action.” – Adam Braun

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