How to Get Your Momentum Back

If you’ve noticed a theme over the past few days, but it’s got everything to do with staying on task, keeping focus, picking up where we left off, and getting our momentum back.  Here’s a great blog article by the fabulous Christine Kane about exactly that!

How to Get Your Momentum Back (…After a Summer of Reckless Gluttony)

Written by Christine Kane

 

Here’s what a client said last week. (See if it sounds familiar.)

“Man, I was really on a roll with this project before the summer. But then the kids were home all summer, and we had vacation, and then I had to get Brian off to school and I’m just, I don’t know, not motivated anymore…”

This “project” of hers is a BIG DEAL. Maybe even something that could change her whole life and business.  It was her “thing” for the year.

But then…

Summer happened.

She “lost momentum.”

And along with it, she thinks she has lost her passion, too.

She hasn’t.

She’s just disappointed in herself for getting off track.

And that sucks.  But it happens.

The problem with MOMENTUM is that people use it as a way to beat themselves up and then never get started again.

But momentum is not a constant.

Stuff happens. Kids get home from school. Knees get wonky. Hard drives crash. You get swine flu.

Any number of things can result in a loss of momentum.

But when you use “momentum” as an excuse for stopping, it simply means you’re afraid of dealing with the discomfort of getting started again.

And getting started again is one of the most valuable success skills you can develop.

So, in honor of September and getting back on track after the gluttony of your outrageous summer … here’s my own 7-step plan to help you get your groove back…

1 – Define the project or thing.

This one’s easy. Don’t overdo it and try to fix everything in your life. Just pick one priority right now.

2 – Schedule a time.

When you schedule an exact time, you will ensure that you don’t put the activity off because you don’t feel like it or because something comes up. It simply becomes just what I do.

3 – Go for Small.

The idea of MOMENTUM makes us set our sights huge in order to “pick up where we left off.”

Don’t play this game.

The best way to get your groove back is to experience completion on a regular basis. And the best way to experience completion on a regular basis is to set your goals small. Sixty-minutes is a perfect starting place. (Sometimes I do only twenty!)

4 – Create the space.

Get the space ready before the time comes. For instance, if your “thing” is getting back into a fitness routine, then every night before you go to bed, create the space for your 6am work out. Lay out your clothes, fill up your Sigg bottle, and charge your iPhone.

If it’s a big project, lay out your task list, clear off your desk, close your email programs every night before you stop working so that you’re not distracted when you begin in the morning.

5 – Set a timer.

When a timer is running, you won’t be as tempted to go downstairs to put the clothes in the dryer, or see if the mail has arrived. It’s a mind game that keeps your butt in the chair and your focus on the task.

6 – Just do it.

Don’t stop to pause and wonder if you really FEEL like doing this today.

Cuz you know what? You won’t!

Just walk out the door, or sit down at the desk, or start going through the clutter. Taking action builds the enthusiasm. Not the other way around!

7 – (Optional) Don’t skip days.

I know. I know. We’re supposed to get weekends off. But if you’re doing small enough chunks of time, then you’ll be able to continue your groove EVEN on the weekends.

Taking a day or two off means having to start all over again on Monday. This is why you start with small chunks of time and small goals. That way, it won’t be hard to keep up your practice – even when you would normally want a day off!

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Christine Kane is the Mentor to People Who are Changing the World. She helps women and men Uplevel their lives, their businesses and their success. Her weekly Uplevel You eZine goes out to over 26,000 subscribers. If you are ready to take your life and your world to the next level, you can sign up for a FREE subscription at http://christinekane.com.

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