(This is part one of two about the law of momentum. The second part can be found here.)
There’s one factor that all professional athletes, CEOs, successful entrepreneurs, and probloggers possesses. It has no smell or taste. You can’t see it or touch it. But when you’ve got it, you’re on your way to the levels of success you aim for. First let’s go back to high school.
Do you remember your physics class? I don’t much either even though I took AP Physics my senior year in high school. What a mistake! I still to this day don’t know why I took it. There wasn’t even a cute girl in class! What cute girl wants to take AP Physics? I digress…
I do remember a law in physics that says objects at rest tend to stay at rest. Objects in motion tend to stay in motion, unless acted upon by an outside force.
So a couch potato stays a couch potato. While others go out, take action every day and bust their butt will achieve more. Makes sense. What separates the acheivers from the couch potato? Momentum. It’s something every successful person or business possesses. Momentum is a powerful force that can lead you to all your goals.
Get That Big Momentum Train Moving
It’s hard to get that momentum started. You know how hard it is to start something and see results. A new blog, a business, a fitness plan, or losing weight.
It’s like a bit steam locomotive. When it’s at a standstill even a small piece of wood will keep it from moving. It takes a lot of steam to get the wheels moving slowly. Once it starts moving it gets into a rhythm. It slowly builds speed over time. Soon it’s up to 60 mph or more. By then it’ll run right through almost anything.
A Personal Experience With Momentum
I’ll share a story with you of my personal experience with momentum and how it turned me from couch potato, who couldn’t fit into my regular pants, to running two half marathons, and having those same pants fit comfortably in four months.
From October 2010 till February 2011, I was like the Terminator when it came to running.
It wasn’t always that way. Up to that point I had neglected my health. I felt it in my energy and in my clothes. I packed on weight. It was early October. Then it came to me how I could get into shape. I would run a half marathon.
Why that distance? Cause I knew it was a challenge but reachable. My first run I ran about 30 minutes before I got physically tired and mentally bored. Just had to take it one day at a time. I kept in focus of the bigger goal. I knew why I was doing this. I ran or lifted weights six days a week. I’d get up at 7am if I needed to get my workout in, which isn’t like me.
I didn’t know but momentum was starting to build up.
I had obstacles. One was the weather. It was getting colder. I live in Florida where the weather is great (Did you know last winter the only state that didn’t get snow was Florida? Yes even Hawaii had snow in the mountains. Ready to move here?). However some mornings it got freaking cold. Below 30 degrees cold. Tempting weather to stay warm in bed!!
Despite the cold weather, I just wore more layers, invested in a pair of running gloves and did my running. I trained without fail.
Before I got winded after an easy 3 mile run, three months later a 10 mile run was easy. I had momentum on my side.
Race Day in December
I had to get up at 5am just to prepare. The most exciting part that morning was standing at the starting line with all these other crazy people who got up early on that cold December morning to run…for fun. I was in good company.
I won’t go into mile-by-mile replay but I will say I saw a guy running in a gingerbread costume at about mile 3 and I had to pass him. No way was I going to let a guy in a costume beat me!! I never saw him again. Maybe someone ate him.
That last mile was all mental. I started to get cramps in my legs. Here I had trained for three months, in the cold weather, early mornings, lost about 15 pounds, was in the best shape I’ve ever, and here some cramps are going to derail me?? No way was I going to be doing any walking. Not..an..option.
I really think my last mile was the fastest. I was determined. I wasn’t going to fail now. One quote that I remembered was “Pain is temporary. Quitting is forever.” No doubt if I quit I would regret it as long as I lived. Run Benny run!
I found every last bit of energy and motivation in me and sprinted that last mile. I finished in 2:04 which I was so happy about! I didn’t have a time goal. Just a goal to not walk. I was so proud of myself.
Keeping the Momentum Going
After that half marathon I didn’t slow down. I had momentum on my side. I was ready for another one! There was another one just six weeks away. It was for breast cancer and was one of the biggest in the south. It ran towards and along the beach. Sounded awesome.
More training. More early morning wake up calls. More healthy eating. I wanted to finish in under 2 hours.
I was amazed at some of my training runs. In order to run a faster time I had to run faster when training. So simple I know. I couldn’t believe the pace I was running at compared to when I was first starting out. It felt effortless. Momentum baby. Momentum.
Race day was beautiful. Very cold in the morning but plenty of port-a-lets. (Very important on race day!) Huge turnout. The course ran along a highway that went towards the beach, on the beach, through neighborhoods and back on the highway.
The crowds that day were amazing. I’m feeling good. I’m drinking water and Gatorade at every station. Then we hit the beach around mile 6 and my legs started to feel tired. Oh man!! In training, running six miles was like a warmup to me. I had no idea why my legs thought they were done for the day. I kept moving. With every half mile they felt heavier and heavier. No matter what, I didn’t want to walk!
Towards the beginning we ran over a steep overpass. Well, we had to run back over it. This time with tired legs. I had no idea how fast I was running but it didn’t feel like my feet were moving that fast. I saw the incline that was coming up. At the beginning it was easy. This was going to be a test.
What got me through it? The line of volunteers at the top screaming and cheering as loud as they can. There was music playing but I don’t remember that at all. Just remember the cheering. You think I’m going to walk when someone’s saying “Go go! You can do!!” No way and I kept on running.
I crossed the finish line at 1:58, which was under my goal of 2 hours. I have NO IDEA how I ran faster than the first time considering my legs got tired so early on. I must have been running at my goal pace even though it didn’t feel like it. It felt like I was running in slow motion.
Four months from couch to finishing two half marathons when I had never even run one. That’s one thing I can be proud of forever.
Momentum is Worth the Hard Work
Certainly momentum wasn’t the only factor to my success. I set a goal. I knew why I was doing this. I changed my habits. But without momentum I wouldn’t have been able to achieve so much.
When you start any endeavor, it’s going to be an uphill climb at first. Let’s take blogging for example.
When you start a blog, it takes a lot of work to reach the level that you would define as successful. In the beginning, there’s lots of writing, finding your writing voice, growing your community, commenting on other blogs, SEO, finding images, crafting a headline, networking, using social media, guest posting and doing every thing you can go get readers to your blog and to come back. It’s a lot of work!
When you have momentum and seeing the results of your hard work pay off, it all comes to you. In an webinar I attended last week called “Momentum for Your Online Business”, Corrbet Barr said one indicator of momentum is when things get easier. People will seek you out for advice and interviews. You could probably write once or twice a week and still grow. Other bloggers will want to do business deals with you. Affiliates will want to sell your product. It still takes work to keep it moving forward but nothing like at the beginning.
What can you do to build momentum?
The truth is, it’s going to take some time. No way I was going to run 13.1 miles, the way I wanted to, in a month. However once you get into the ‘zone’ magically things will happen.
– Thinking consistency. Slow and steady wins the race. The turtle always beats the hare. Think about anything you’ve had success with. I bet you did it consistently over a period a time. A little every day instead of trying to do too much too soon.
– Develop a routine for daily habits. Decide what new habits or behaviors correlate with whatever you want to have success in.
For example during training, I did my run first thing in the morning. I’d get up, make breakfast right away, rest for an hour and then ran. It became a routine for me. It contributed to my success.
Before? Wake up, computer, breakfast, computer, TV, computer, time to work. No wonder I was fat and lazy!
– Know why you’re doing it. Having superficial reasons will derail you so fast. That’s why New Year’s resolutions suck. You fail more often than not. If you have a deeper reason, you’ll keep going no matter what obstacles you face. I certainly wouldn’t have run in below freezing temperatures if my “why power” wasn’t so strong.
Find what area in your life you want to have profound success. Use the advice and find what behaviors in your life you have to change. Get momentum on your side and your life won’t look the same.
Think about something successful you’ve accomplished. Anything in life. Did momentum play a factor?
What are you working hard on now to one day have momentum on your side?
Success comes to those who work for it. Some of the people may get inheritance and some of them ride on trends but real winners work to get things done.
It was interesting reading your blog post.
Have a great day.
Ashvini
That’s right Ashvini. I think people who start with nothing and become successful and rich are more happy than those who just inherit the money. Sometimes we think successful people are “lucky” and opportunities fall into their lap but they’ve worked so hard to become “lucky”. Have a great day as well there!
I hear ya. It’s so strange how one can go from non-runner to runner with just a little momentum. The same happened for me except I went from team sports to running. The same also applies to my online business. If I don’t get going on what I want to accomplish first thing after my morning run on the weekends, I end up wasting endless hours accomplishing nothing of significance. It all comes down to just getting started and building momentum.
David Damron
Life Excursion
Thanks David for sharing! To build momentum in anything you definitely need to get into a routine of doing that thing everyday. Find your best time to get it done. Make that into a habit and into a routine. Appreciate you stopping by on your new MBP 🙂
Benny,
I’ve been experiencing the first hand byproducts of exactly what you’re talking about. You’ve been reading about it every time I publish an article on the Skool of Life. I’ve said before that “simple actions done consistently over time have a compounding effect.” Once you hit momentum, you couldn’t quit if you wanted to. Snowballs start to turn into avalanches and really amazing things start to happen in your life.
Srini, you’re a great example of the amazing results of momentum. You’ve turned a simple blog into Blogcast FM, moving to CR and surfing, social media jobs, and now speaking at Blogworld. That’s amazing and inspirational to everyone who’s starting out.
Have a safe trip to NY! Look forward to reading about your trip!
You’ve got experiences in your back pocket of momentum Benny, and it shows. It shows in your writing, what you do with your life, the lessons and the personal nature by which you connect with others. Your marathon thoughts are excellent. That’s really a great way to apply yourself – and get something going. You’re doing that now with your blog. Keep it up!
Thanks Christian. After reading your story I’m sure you believe 100% momentum carried you to where you are now. I’m working on that here on my blog. Reading stuff like your comment keeps me moving forward. Thanks buddy!
Benny,
Another nice post!
Reading this, I remember about the NBA Eastern Final game yesterday. At the half, Chicago Bulls and Miami Heats were tied 48-48.
Somewhere in the the 3rd quarter, the Chicago Bulls started to pull away – thanks to Momentum.
The Bulls’ momentum was started to roll with their defense and rebounding for second-chance points. These are few of the things they did:
1. Thinking consistency
2. They went back to their defensive routine.
3. They knew what they want – the Ring!
It was hard work for the bulls – lots of jumping, rebounding, trapping, rotating defense, etc. Was it worth it? Oh, yeah!
On that note, see you next year on the Finals. Go LAKERS!!!
Excellent example! Teams who go on 16-0 runs it’s cause they have momentum. Awesome defense and precise offense.
You’re a Lakers fan? It definitely wasn’t their season for sure. It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the offseason and who will be their new coach.
Lakers fan, yes I am! This is an interesting off season for the Lakers and their fan, definitely! Most interesting since Kobe’s “trade me” antics in summer of 2007.
Benny, Thanks for another inspirational and timely post!
Just this week, my grandson who is a personal trainer, has challenged me to begin a fitness program. After reading your post this morning, I realize that if I am to be successful I need to set goals and set the momentum.
Anthony Robbins is one of my favorite motivational speakers and this is what he says about momentum…
“The most important thing you can do to achieve your goals is to make sure that as soon as you set them, you immediately begin to create momentum.” Anthony Robbins
Your statement that you had a goal and knew why you were doing it is key.
Ellene, thank you for coming by.
You are correct that I had a strong why I wanted to run a half marathon. It wasn’t something for fun. It wasn’t cause I was bored. Wasn’t just something to see if I could do. It was cause I was out of shape, weighed the heaviest I had ever been in my life, and felt terrible about it. Having that reason to change my life around, motivated me so much on so many days when it was easy to take a day off.
I love Anthony Robbins too and he’s absolutely right. Just start doing it, do it consistently, and momentum will come. There’s never a good day to start. The time will never be right. Better start now.
Hey Benny,
Oh, yeah! Great post. I like to call it momentum stacking. Build a little momentum and stack right on top. Don’t focus on setbacks and failures. Let them go. Celebrate the small victories and build on them. Momentum stack!
Live it LOUD!
Hey Rob,
I like that phrase. Momentum stacking. Sounds powerful!! Thanks for sharing.
Benny,
Great Post! I had a thought.Success is like Kevin Durant on a three point shooting streak and the only thing that can stop him is a MIRACLE.
When we start rolling, we can never stop.Nice!
Absolutely Armand. Athletes call it being in the zone. When they shoot the ball it just goes in every time. They have no explanation for it. That’s the kind of “zone” we should get into with our lives! Thanks for sharing Armand! (though Durant scored 40 last night but Nowitzski was even better!!)
It’s very true that our actions should become our habits. Thinking and referring back to failures in the past is wasting your energy and suffering … that’s what suffering really is. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Law of Momentum.
Thanks for sharing that. I never thought about suffering as wasting your energy with failures in the past. Makes sense. Thanks for stopping by and commenting Vitaly!
Benny,
Awesome, inspiring post. I love love loved reading about your marathon story. I have a similar story with Kick boxing. That momentum feeling is such a monumental feeling that keeps pushing you.
But what do you do when you can’t get momentum?
I’ve been trying to push my son to excel at a sport. Any sport or exercise. (health reasons). It’s not happening though. He has no momentum, he’s got two left feet and he often gives up and feels unmotivated. Some people have to work a lot harder than others to get to tht level of momentum. It’s sad to watch him struggle and feel discouraged. The only thing that keeps him going is my encouraging words….. I hope one day he will build a higher tolerance and be able to push himself when i’m not there to push him.
Hi Annie! It’s gotta be frustrating with your son cause you want him to be active so he’s healthy. That’s good that you keep encouraging him and not acting like a crazy mom and forcing him. Is there any sort of activity or sport he does enjoy even though he may not be good at it?
After what you just said, doing something you enjoy doing really helps build momentum. It’s hard to keep going almost every day on something if you hate it.
I’d love to hear your story about kickboxing!! When I lived in Taipei, I joined a kickboxing club that met twice a week. To this day, it’s the best workout I’ve ever gotten. 2 hours straight of kicking, technique and interval training. Having someone hold a pad and kicking it as hard as I could was awesome. I miss that kind of work out! Share your story with me here or send me an email. I’d love to hear about it.
Wow Benny, now that was motivation. Just out of the blue you decide you want to start running and actually get yourself off that couch and stick with a routine. That’s rare especially if you have no accountability partner to push you. I so admire that!
This relates perfectly to a business as we both know so well. And it really doesn’t take that long to build if you stick with a plan and do it each day. Watch out because we’ll be calling you for interviews soon my friend.
Thanks for sharing this with us. I’m so impressed. Next time I need to get motivated I’m just going to call you! 🙂
Adrienne
I had no accountability partner. It was just me. I find when it comes to fitness I’ll find that kick in the butt one day and start going like crazy. I’ll go from periods of inactivity to periods of exercising 6 days a week. It’s just a matter of finding that balance where I stay consistent for a longer period of time.
I’m consumed by blogging, gaining readership, social media, and anything to make here a better place. I suppose that’s a good thing. 🙂
Yo Benny,
Great post…I’m digging the running thing. I was happy with the 5Ks, i recently added another mile and a half it feels great. It’s the longest I have ever ran. Next week, I may add another 1/2 mile to mile.
Momentum baby!
Excellent Brad. When I trained for my half, the plan had me adding a mile to my longest run every week. So if you add half a mile that’s great! I want to try a 5K. All the events here this summer are 5K’s. Must be the Florida heat.
I really agree with what you said about how if you get into the zone things will magically happen. Even though it might seem magical, it’s really just all that hard work paying off.
I’ve noticed momentum happen in everything that I do. What is hard at first seems to get noticeably easier as you go. It’s like pushing a heavy boulder. You can’t make it move much at first, but eventually you’ll get it to roll easier and easier. It just takes some patience.
Glad you realize the power of momentum. It takes blood, sweat , and tears sometimes at the beginning to get it going. In the end, it will pay off. Thanks for commenting!
Ahhh! What great advice on keeping the momentum going. It definitely takes hard work and dedication, and like you said, consistency. If we stay focused, we will succeed.
I’m off to read part two of this article now.
Thanks, Benny!
Hey Allyson! It’s something when I started to look at where I’ve had success before what did I do differently? It’s cause I was consistent. I did something every day whether big or small towards that goal. Thank you for sharing!
When I first decided that I wanted to build wealth, I started studying everyone that had what I wanted. I read books, I spoke with friends, and I started to see a common theme. The people who made it there got there through lots of hard work and they built momentum, by starting out and never stopping or slowing. Great post!
Thanks for commenting here! Anyone who has done anything successful will definitely agree momentum carried them to the top for sure. People from the outside can’t see it so don’t realize how pivotal it is.
What are some great books you’ve read? I’m always looking for good books to read.
One of my favorites is The Richest Man in Babylon and I recently read Trump’s Art of the Deal. I also like the Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino and The Sales Bible by Gitomer. Even if you are not in professional sales as a career, there are great guidelines to selling in general in those books.
Thank you for sharing! I will check those out.
Love this post. Momentum is such a powerfull tool.
I personally used it in becoming more social in life. The first set of strangers you meet might seem daunting. But after you talk to more and more people.. it becomes a breeze and you’re just having fun while maintaining the momentum.
Hey Allan,
That’s a great way to put it. It’s breaking the ice that’s the hardest part. Once you do it with one person it gets easier every time. Do it enough and you’ll have no fear of meeting people.
Thanks for leaving a comment!
Keep the momentum rolling! I often struggle to keep the momentum going when it comes to a big objective but I find that smashing lots of small goals along the way help me to focus!
Good work on the half marathons by the way!
Thanks Ross!
Smashing lots of small things consistently really makes a difference in the long run. We sometimes try to take big action once in awhile hoping for it to be life changing, but it’s the small things that make the difference.
I was so happy to run a half marathon! Looking at your blog and being a tri athlete, a half marathon is like a warm up run for you. 🙂
Thanks for coming by and sharing your thoughts!
Thanks for the inspiration. I would like to start running again and aim for a half marathon and maybe a full down the road. Any good books or blogs that helped you with your training?
Hey Allen,
I looked for training program and I followed http://www.halhigdon.com/halfmarathon/novice.htm. I made sure I did strength training twice a week. Those days that say to run and lift weights, I just lifted weights. Also I liked reading Runner’s World at the library to learn more. I’m sure there are great books and blogs on running but I didn’t read them. Those were enough for me. Good luck with it! I hope you’ll get into it.