YOU CAN'T FIND YOUR MOMENTUM?

When things are easy, momentum has a habit of slowing down. When tragedy strikes, we often feel we just don’t want to do anything and so momentum can be lost.  We know we should be moving forward, but what do we do when we can’t find momentum.  

But if we condition ourselves to always be focused on momentum it makes us better and stronger and helps us overcome even the worst case scenarios.

Sheryl Sandberg,the chief operating officer of Facebook and author of “Lean In,’’ delivered the commencement speech at the University of California, Berkeley, on Saturday. She said “It’s the hard days that determine who you are”.  

Well said. Fortunately or unfortunately, it’s true.

I often remember seeing people on TV after they have experienced tragedy whether they had an illness, a death in the family, or a financial or emotional challenge. Whatever the situation, they always said it made them better, stronger, wiser. 

I can honestly say that is true, although I don’t wish that method of learning on anyone. What you do learn however is so profound you can never really teach it fully.   “If only I knew then, what I know now” how many times have you said those words to yourself, you can see what I’m getting at.

When things are moving along without any bumps or curves we have a tendency to slow down, to ease off of our momentum that keeps us moving forward.  We tend to get comfortable and therefore are take our foot off the gas.

For those of you that own small businesses or are responsible for achievements in corporation it’s usually the same.  

When we realize that sales are down or we didn’t hit our objective thats when we react and try to find solutions to make it happen again. Our momentum starts to move at an accelerated pace when the pressure is on!

I often get asked how do I do it, how do I keep going despite everything that has been thrown my way.  It’s simple to answer, but more challenging to understand if you have never been through it.  

The simple answer is one you have heard me say over and over again, “In 10 seconds my life changed”.    I never forget how fleeting life or circumstance can be.   Always be ready for whatever life has in store for you.  

Good, bad, exciting or boring, whatever you are surrounded with, momentum can carry you through to where you want to be in life , how you want to experience life, and how you want to feel.

How do we keep our momentum going instead of reacting at the eleventh hour?  Here are the strategies I use and have used each and everyday for several years.

Be Ready:  Wake up each morning acknowledging you are ready for the day.  Whatever comes your way.  Whatever it is you can handle it.  Every morning I recognize its a new day with new possibilities. What will occur many not be what we thought but it doesn’t matter.  We have the capacity to work through it.

Be Watching:  Be alert to what’s happening around you. In the marketplace, with competitors, with technology.  I am a life long student and believer in learning new strategies, techniques or thinking that can shift my position and get me moving faster, stronger and wiser.  Learning my number one momentum driver.

Be Flexible: Sometimes we find ourselves moving well and in the right direction, and then we make a subtle adjustment or shift and we find that this adjustment has a huge positive impact on our momentum!  All because we were willing to be flexible and adjust.  It’s the same in sports, a slight adjustment how someone is holding a tennis racket can completely change their game. What happens next? Momentum kicks in and the player is on a “roll”.

Be Action: Action changes things.  The more we take action, the more things change. Momentum comes from taking action.  Learning to take action is like building a muscle, we have to condition ourselves to take action in order to be in a state of movement and of building momentum.

I love the word momentum!  It’s all about being in the moment, moving forward, dealing with whatever comes your way and setting you on a path to future possibilities.