The Secret to Building Momentum
Do you know the secret to motivation, to gaining momentum in your life, business, or craft?
Consistency.
It’s true for any athlete, prolific writer, musician, woodworker, and even small business owner.
If you want to make progress toward your goals, then you have to be consistent.
The Tale of the Unexpected, Talented (and Handsome) Musician
Growing up, I was super involved in music. I picked up the trombone in the 4th grade and never looked back.
While I started out barely able to push air through the horn, by the time I graduated high school, I sat as the principal trombonist in state orchestras, bands, and regional ensembles. Colleges offered me music scholarships, and during my college career, I landed paid gigs across the city.
Yes, I realize I’m “flexing.”
But if you think I became a talented musician overnight, you’re fooling yourself!
I spent hours in my bedroom and in practice rooms working on my skills. Immediately after school, I made a habit of picking up my horn and practicing for just 30 minutes. Sometimes I even practiced during the commercial breaks of my favorite TV shows.
The point is I repeatedly showed up.
And that consistency not only kept me motivated, but it also paid dividends in the long-run through college scholarships.
Build a System of Consistency
Do you want to see growth in your small business in the same way musicians and athletes see growth?
Then you need to consistently show up for your customers.
The best way to do that is to build a system of consistency — a plan for creating momentum to carry you into success and achieving your goals.
Here’s how I do it:
1. Write down your goals
Grab a pen and paper (or open a blank word document) and jot down your top three goals for your business. Remember, keep them S.M.A.R.T.
For example, let’s say you want to create better inbound leads through a blogging strategy. Well, that’s your goal: Create 10 high-quality inbound leads each month with a comprehensive blog strategy.
2. Schedule your “practice times”
Grab your calendar and block off time for you to work on your goal. You might give yourself 30 minutes each day, an hour, or maybe one hour a day three days a week.
Once scheduled, these times are non-negotiable. You have to commit to showing up!
For example, to continue with the inbound blogging strategy, I might block off 1 hour three days each week to research, write, and format/publish blog posts.
3. Find Accountability
Once your goals and schedule are in place, you need to find someone to help hold you accountable. It can be a person or a group of persons, but you need to find another human being to check in with on a weekly basis to keep you accountable to your goals.
And establish consequences if you fail to meet your goal and fail to stick to your schedule. They have to be actual consequences! A great tool that puts money on the line: stickK.
For example, with our blogging strategy, if I have an accountability group I meet with each week to bounce ideas off of, then they can hold me accountable for achieving my weekly benchmarks.
4. Show up
This goes without saying, but part of building a system of consistency and gaining momentum is to actually show up. So those times you blocked off in step 2? Be there.
5. Evaluate your progress
How do you know if you’re making progress toward your goals? You step back and evaluate. I recommend doing this every other week at first, then once a month after you’ve settled into your routine.
You can ask questions like:
- What’s working?
- What’s been difficult?
- What progress has been made toward my goal?
- How can I make this better?
Consistency builds momentum
There’s a common misconception that you get motivated or that progress simply comes to certain people and not to others. But like I and many others have learned, that’s not the case.
Consistency builds momentum. Momentum propels you forward. Forward progress keeps you motivated. And that motivation makes success a lot more attainable.
If you build a system of consistency and commit to showing up, then almost nothing will be impossible for you.
