Momentum is easy to see while watching sport. Oftentimes, it’s like watching someone almost “flip a switch,” as the change in direction is that sudden and complete. Other times it’s more subtle, but the shift in strength is always there. One team has it and another team has lost it. One individual is winning, and moment by moment, another is giving up ground. Every coach would like to give his or her team the gift of momentum. Every one of us would love to run “downhill” so to speak. Momentum, however, cannot be wished for and granted by some “Uncle Mo” genie of some sort. Momentum, like so much in life, must be won. It must be won moment by moment.
Here’s the BTL formula for building momentum. Do NOT miss this. This is HUGE.
Let’s say that you want to get in better physical shape, like many of my clients. You would like to drop twenty pounds, put on some muscle, and get into your favorite, old, pair of jeans. Here’s the formula we would follow for giving yourself the gift of “Uncle Mo.”
1. Write it down. Don’t try to organize the thoughts, instead, just let them flow across the page. Collect your thoughts about “why” you want to accomplish this objective. What will it mean to you, what will you do with your new found energy, who, beside you, will this benefit. Write some more.
2. Organize your thoughts with another rewrite and make it positive. Take all the negatives and throw them around until they are stated as a positive. Instead of saying you want to be “less of a pig,” as one of my clients recently spoke, reframe the statement into something positive. I want to improve my strength, I want to run three miles in under thirty minutes, I want to climb a mountain with my son next summer, I want to…
We refer to this piece as identifying your “dream state.” We encourage our clients to dream big. Big dreams give us energy and something worth striving toward. Very cool.
3. Look in the mirror. Identify your current state. Write where you are today. This can be depressing for some because the “gap” between where they are and where they want to go, is like staring across the abyss. How in the world will I ever get there? Be honest and write.
4. Here is HOW. HERE is where we create “Uncle Mo.” We help our clients identify what we call simply, productive action. As our clients begin to ACT, productively, AND in the direction of THEIR BIG DREAMS, the gap, slowly begins to shrink. They begin to see some progress. NOT right away AND not without some hard work. Progress, like so much in work and life, comes in fits and starts. Sooooo hang in there and keep ACTING. Momentum comes in these small productive actions and the discipline to stick with them.
Suddenly we notice the progress. Suddenly, the scales begin to move.
Houston, we do NOT have a problem. We have some progress being made. Uncle Mo is in the making…
Identify a big dream for you. Write about it.
Look in the mirror and honestly write about where you are today. Identify the gap.
Identify a number of productive actions that will move you in the direction of your dream AND, choose to ACT. Do NOT wait to ACT tomorrow. ACT now. Remember, you are meant to be in motion. Make it motion on a mission AND Uncle Mo will not be far behind. Sooooo, what you waiting for?
GO!
Very cool.
BUILT TO LEAD 