7 ways to get momentum in your life and how to keep it

7 ways to get momentum in your life and how to keep it.

Heck, I was looking for just one way and then I found more as I finally started getting that “Mo”.

I wanted to start this kind of effort (NewWayFWD.com) for years. I’ve seen the potential, validated it, and grew more excited every step of the way.

I realized the good it could do and envisioned how fulfilling it would be for me.

I determined the need to reinvent myself knowing my current modus operandi were not sustainable so I became driven by necessity as well as desire.

When I envisioned it, I felt wonderful and excited.

Yet, despite all of that I still lacked the “Mo”: Motivation.

Are you like me?

Whether by necessity you must develop a way to earn money because you may be unemployed or soon out of your current job?

You want to avoid the challenges of being perceived as “older” and the barriers that impose (ageism).

Or by desire, you want to create and develop something to do after your “retire” from your current job and you know the clock is ticking so time for action is now?

Or all of the above?

Despite my burning desire, I would go to bed every night thinking what little I had done toward achieving this and saying to myself “get your butt in gear!!!!”. Only to go to bed the next night and the next repeating the same admonition.

Finally (FINALLY!), I took the spark of necessity, the sound of the ticking clock, a burning desire and mixed them with the power of intention and the 7 ways to get momentum in your life and how to keep it that I discovered and…

…immediately, the flow started. Immediately I got excited. Immediately it became easier. Immediately it flowed and I couldn’t stop my momentum even if I wanted to.

I got the Mo! Here are my 7 ways to get your M0:

#1 Know & focus on the why

The first of the 7 ways to get momentum in your life and how to keep it is foundational to overall success.

We all too often focus on the what and the how. But first comes the why. Why do you want it? Why do you need it? Why are you doing it?

Constantly focus on your “Why”.

When your effort gets challenging, when you don’t have the energy or the MO; focus on the why. Think about why you are doing it and imagine what it’s going to be like to not only succeed but the joy and fulfillment of the journey to success. The doing. The being.

Even when I begrudgingly sit down at my desk to do something I really don’t want to do, if I take two seconds to consider why I am doing it, then it becomes vastly easier to do and I get the Mo under the worst of circumstances.

“Achievement happens when we pursue and attain what we want. Success comes when we are in clear pursuit of why we want it..” -Simon Sinek

#2 Create a vision board

I love this! Keeping your eye on your why and seeing what it will look like (and feel, smell, sound, and taste like) is a proven way to succeed and is easy to do.

Think about what your New Way Forward looks like. All the wonderful aspects that come with it and that you need for it.

For anything and everything find the images on Google and put them together on a board or print on paper. Look at this vision board at least three times a day. When you awake, before lunch, and right before bed look at your vision board and realize what it will be like when you have it.

You’ll believe it when you see it? No. It’s the other way around.

“I’ll see it when I believe it.” -Thane Pittman

#3 Schedule effort time & make deadlines

Number 3 of the 7 ways to get momentum in your life and how to keep it may be the most challenging. Yet it’s critical because it’s all about the doing.

Block time each day to totally focus on what you’re trying to do. Is that first thing in the morning (which is a great time for energy and attention)? Or the evening, or midday? Whenever block it just as you would for a meeting with your boss or client or doctor. Also, be realistic as to when you can do it and not be compromised or distracted by other forces. Turn off your phone and emails.

For me, it’s getting up at 5 am, doing my healthy morning routine and then 100% focusing on New Way Forward from 6 am to 9 am (I usually go longer and/or find time elsewhere in the day).

Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day. People who are living the life they want and people who aren’t. The difference is what they do with those hours.

Have deadlines. Not just the big ones, but little ones for each day, week, or key step. Making a deadline and meeting it keeps you on track, gives you pride, satisfaction, a feeling of success, and leads to progress.

Within myself, my block times and deadlines are non-negotiable. My self-integrity is at stake plus it feels empowering. It fuels my motivation and momentum. It makes me happy.

“If you talk about it, it’s a dream. If you envision it, it’s possible. But if you schedule it, it’s real.” – Tony Robbins

#4 Vote for yourself and focus on the first 1%

James Clear, author of Atomic Habits has a very effective technique for better habits and success. Focusing on the next 1% and voting for yourself.

Rather than thinking of the big goal and all you have to do to achieve it (e.g., run a marathon, work out every day, launch a business, etc.), When it comes to actions, just focus on the next 1% of what you need to do.

Thinking about all you have to do is daunting, debilitating, and defeating.

Thinking about only the next 1% (putting on your running shoes, grabbing your gym bag, starting this very blog) get’s you going and then you go to the next 1% and the next and the next…

“If you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done.” – James Clear

Then, each and every time you do anything that is a step in your New Way Forward, however big or small (especially the 1%), value it as a vote for yourself. Get up in the morning to vote early and often.

“If you keep casting the same votes you’ve always cast, you’re going to get the same results you’ve always had.” – James Clear

#5 Expect setbacks, problems, and pivots

I launched ProBoomer.com knowing that whatever I was thinking and expecting would change, sometimes radically. In fact, I launched it with a mindset and strategy of “ready-fire-aim”. Meaning I intended to launch, test, learn and discover what people needed as well as how to execute, develop and grow my enterprise. NewWayFWD.com is the result of that. Now it’s “ready-aim-fire”.

Also, there will be setbacks. There will be problems. There will be mistakes. There will be times of self-doubt, fear, and fatigue. However, by expecting all of this, you can handle it better and not allow any of it to undermine your Mo.

“Doesn’t expecting the unexpected make the unexpected expected?” -Bob Dylan

#6 Be realistic

Tim Ferris author of the 4 Hour Workweek, Tools of Titans, and other best-sellers hates to write. His process to get a book written and done is to schedule two hours every morning to write with the intent of only writing two “crappy” pages.

On some mornings he writes only two crappy pages. Most days he writes two excellent pages and even more.

Everything inevitably takes longer and is harder than we think (albeit sometimes the opposite is true). To keep your Mo, set realistic if not small expectations. This will remove the feeling of angst and defeat, and instead will enable you to overcome the challenges and succeed.

“What screws us up most in life is the picture in our head of how it’s supposed to be.” -Anonymous

#7 Make commitments

The last (but not least) of the 7 ways to get momentum in your life and how to keep it is to make commitments to others.

Create situations that force you to get things done. This may be a commitment to a client, an Accountabilibuddy, or by actually starting to spend money on your effort.

A big one for me was hiring the firm to help me create the New Way Forward website site. I was committed and paying for it. Suddenly it became a project just like the projects I was doing for clients in my base business. I also had commitments to those who were joining my “tribe”. People were counting on me

It became so much easier to do what I had to do every day.

“Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes… but no plans.” – Peter F. Drucker

Embrace the clichés

Because of these methods, not only am I “getting it done”, the struggle is also done (admittedly not always). Now my efforts come with ease and the battle in my head is silenced, self-loathing and frustration a thing of the past.

Clichés are clichés for a reason so embrace them. One foot in front of the other. The longest journey begins with a single step. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Just do it!.

Once you launch yourself with these methods the Mo will come. It will sustain. You will succeed. It is a glorious thing.

New Thinking