What do you think of when you think of momentum?
How do we build momentum?
When I think of momentum, I think of riding a bike.
When I taught my two girls to ride many years ago, one thing I remember saying, as I ran next to them, holding the back of the bicycle seat, was “keep pedaling, keep pedaling . . .”
For obvious reasons. If they didn’t keep pedaling, they would’ve lost one of the essential ingredients for riding a bike: momentum.
Not enough momentum, then no bike riding.
You gotta keep pedaling. Which means you gotta first START pedaling.
It’s not always easy to start pedaling. You’re either going to start
- on level ground,
- at the top of a hill, or
- at the bottom of a hill.
As you’ve experienced, sometimes in life we’re getting on our “bikes” and starting to pedal, so to speak, at the bottom of the hill.
Pedaling is hard at the bottom of the hill, trying to build enough momentum to get us up the hill. But usually, with enough will and sustained effort, we get moving.
And then, it gets progressively easier.
For our purposes here, that’s momentum: putting in sustained effort that creates progressive movement so that eventually less effort is required.
I have two questions for you today. First, where in your life do you find it easy to build momentum (starting at the top of the hill)?
Second, where in your life do you find it difficult to build momentum (starting at the bottom of the hill)?
Additionally, what have been your ingredients for building momentum, when you’ve been able to build it well?
And, what have been your barriers to building momentum when you struggle building it?
We all need to figure out how momentum works in our lives–what are the contributors and what are the barriers.
Learn how momentum works in your life.
Keep striving in the right areas, and in the right direction. Continual effort, continual improvement.
Until next time, keep pedaling.