How to Build Momentum
I am no motivation expert, but one thing that I know for damn sure is the importance of building momentum. This is something I have been really good at in the past, but have also really failed at. In fact, I failed to build momentum for this blog for a really long time (hence the gap in the blog post dates). Over the past few months, I have been seeking my new purpose. I recently graduated grad school, gave up my goal of establishing an online personal training business (because I learned it wasn’t what my true passion was), and started working on building my knowledge & clientele while working at Inertia Fitness Co, a private personal training gym in Charlotte, NC.
One thing I was great at during school was getting sh*t done. College allows you to build momentum if you let it. Completing assignments builds momentum, going to class builds momentum, meeting people in your major builds momentum. But once I graduated, all that momentum and discipline I had built felt really difficult to hold on to. Part of it was the fact that I didn’t know what my next step was going to be. I am so blessed to have a job right out of college, but I know this isn’t the end goal for me. I am still trying to figure out what the next mountain I am going to climb will be. The not knowing has been holding me back. The not knowing has been an excuse for me to procrastinate and to pretend like I don’t need to hold myself accountable.
So what am I going to do now? I don’t have a clear end-goal or vision, I don’t know what I am working towards, I don’t know who I want to be just yet. I’ll tell you what I am going to do — I am going to build momentum. The truth is, sitting around saying “I’m lost” or “I’m trying to find myself” is not going to help me find my passion. In fact, pretending like I need to feel inspired before I take action is an excuse that countless people tell themselves to make them feel better about not making any progress day after day. The only way to become inspired is to start doing. The “doing” will at the very least, help me figure out the things I don’t want to do. The funny thing is, I have already done this!
Last year, I created this very website to promote my online personal training business “Train with Tori”. I spent weeks creating my website, creating content, planning my services, and researching how to start my own business. I spent months trying to promote my online coaching — all just to remove every single “sign up now” button from my website; all just to get rid of the “Services” tab from the menu bar; all just to delete the rest of the videos I had pre-filmed to post on TikTok and Instagram. And even when I was doing this - knowing the all of the hard work I put into building the small following I had and all of the friends and family who knew exactly what I was trying to do but failed at - I still did not regret doing this.
I spent almost a full year trying to build this business and saw growth at a snail’s pace. But that wasn’t what made me stop trying on this endeavor. What did was realizing that I didn’t want to run a fully online business where the only way I could scale was hiring more coaches. I didn’t want to run a personal training business, it is just what I thought I should do because of my background. What I actually want is to build something I am proud of, that can reach thousands, maybe millions of people. I want to build something that can help people while also making me a crap ton of money (yes, I do care about money).
Tip #1: Taking Action
Anyways, now I am making myself figure out where to go from here, and I am doing that by taking action. Taking action is the simplest way to fast-track making real progress towards whatever you are working on. This goes for fitness goals, business goals, relationship goals — you name it! I finally got real with myself and realized that I was doing absolutely nothing to make progress towards finding my next passion project. So here we are, day 2 of taking action (yes, maybe this post is a bit premature).
So, what does this have to do with building momentum?
The whole purpose of taking action is to build momentum. When you don’t do anything, you can’t achieve anything. By making the first step of taking action, you are starting the snowball that can turn into a boulder. The first step should be easy. For me, this was writing my previous blog post: My Quick & Easy Morning Routine. This post took me maybe an hour to write but it was easy. I do my morning routine every single day so I couldn’t f*ck it up! It took very little mental effort, very little time, and it was fun for me! Your action-taking step could last 2 minutes! For example, if you want to lose weight, your first step might be going for a 5 minute walk. It seems pointless but if you commit to taking a 5 minute walk, you might decide to go for 10 minutes. Doing a 10 minute walk today could turn into another 10 minute walk tomorrow. After a while, you could start doing 10 minute runs instead of 10 minute walks. Before you know it, you might be running daily for 30 minutes at a time! The point is, you never would have gotten to the point of daily walks or regular runs if you didn’t start with the 5 minute walk. The 5 minute walk was easy, simple, and manageable. Once you got the ball rolling, it is easy to keep on going and adding to what you started with.
Tip #2: Identifying what’s blocking you
My next tip is to figure out what is stopping you from taking action. Lets say you don’t know where to start with taking action. You don’t know what seems simple enough to do regularly but will also help you reach your end goal. For me, the thing that was stopping me was the first post I was trying to write. It required a lot of research, mental effort, and time. It was a daunting post for me to write so instead of writing something different, I just avoided writing all together. I thought that this post was going to be a killer! What it actually did was kill my momentum. I avoided doing the damn thing entirely and something that was supposed to move the needle forward ended up stopping it all together! So figure out what is stopping you. It could be fear, it could be laziness or lack of motivation, it could be convincing yourself you aren’t qualified to take any action at all. Whatever is stopping you, identify it, figure out why it is stopping you & then write it down. So if you are fearful, you might say, “I am scared to start writing because I don’t want to sound unintelligent.” If you are lazy, it might be, “I am not exercising because I think workout for a full hour for it to be worth it.” Once you have done this, it is time to reframe it. Change this narrative in your mind & on paper so you can move past this! Instead, you might write, “I am capable of writing something that I feel confident in my ability to write knowledgeably about”. For being lazy, you might write, “Going to the gym and walking for 10 minutes is better than not going at all, even if I am not getting a full workout in, because I am still getting active.”
This might sound silly and elementary, but doing this simple task can help you move past whatever it is that is blocking you from taking action. Building momentum is difficult. The hardest part is when you are starting. Each day it gets a little easier and easier, and eventually it becomes a habit that you don’t even think twice about. But lets be honest for a moment, the longer you wait to take action, the longer it will be before you reach your end goal. Be your own cheerleader, be your own inspiration, and be your own boss. Respect your own inner voice — that means if you say you are going to do something, do it!!
Tip #3: Making A plan
Here is where it gets hairy. Sometimes, making a plan can actually stop you from taking action. This is why Tip #1 is taking action and Tip #2 is determining what is stopping you from taking action — not the other way around. Once again, the best way to build momentum is by taking action. Everything else comes second & serves as a tool to keep the momentum going.
That being said, making a plan can be helpful towards building momentum. After I took the first step towards building momentum by posting a blog post, I made a plan. This plan was really simple, took me maybe 20 minutes to make, and appealed to what motivates me. If you’re anything like me, you like deadlines because they give you structure & guidance. So my plan does exactly that. I made a quick chart in google sheets and made 3 columns: a date column, a topic column, and a category column. I wrote the date of the days I wanted to post on and then started brainstorming ideas of what I could post on those days. What was funny about this is that I had so many ideas. Before I posted my first blog post, I could not think of a single idea to write about! By taking action, I did the exact thing I was hoping to do — become inspired.
Was this post something that was going to put my blog on the map? No. Was it new, original, or never-done-before? No. Was it perfectly organized and worded? NO!
But what it did do was help me brainstorm ideas that could ultimately put my blog on the map, or at least attract the audience I want to attract. It did help me write this post now! It did help get in the mindset of a blogger. I ultimately proved to myself that I was capable of writing something and I was capable of making progress, even if the progress was so small, I was the only person who noticed it.
The Point:
Stop waiting to take action. Stop waiting for the perfect moment, the big idea, the rush of inspiration, or the fool-proof plan. Give yourself permission to do the damn thing. Respect yourself enough to make a move. The ball is in your court now — what are you going to do to move the needle? Let me know on TikTok, Instagram, or Pinterest @trainwithtorik or email me at trainwithtorik@gmail.com. I’d love to know how your taking action!