Keeping Momentum

It’s just about the middle of the year and this is when things start to run out of steam. Perhaps you’ve already slowed a bit with your endeavors or are just now feeling a lag in your activities. Keeping momentum throughout the year is tough, but not impossible.

Everyone wants to hit their goals, to keep going like a freight train down the tracks, but sometimes things get in the way. Life happens and you struggle to get to the same speed you once had. With the economy the way it is, some are overworked while others are struggling, but that doesn’t mean you can’t continue moving forward.

Let’s talk about some ways you can keep the momentum going.

Mindset

Sometimes you are so numb on the inside, all you think are negative thoughts. Why? How? Who? These can cloud the mind and keep you from continuing on your journey.

In times like these, it’s important to stay positive, defeat the negativity with uplifting and encouraging thoughts and activities.

Positive Affirmations

Saying positive affirmations in the morning or whenever you need, is a great way to start your day and will keep you in a bright mood throughout your tasks and activities. You could even say them when you feel yourself getting down.

Journaling

Journaling is another great way to keep your mind on the positive. Write all your negative thoughts down to get them out of your head and then write all the positive things that are happening right now or things you are grateful for. Outshine the negative with the positive.

Bullet Journaling is a great way to keep all your thoughts, routines, and habits in one place so you can review how you are doing and where you came from a week, month, or even a year ago. Try it, it may work great for you! Not only do you get all those nagging things from your brain, you can add in some creativity as well.

Crafts

Which brings me to my next point, taking a small break to so something you love may be just the thing you need to relax, re-focus, and get your mind where is should be. Try creating a vision board, coloring, bullet journaling, woodworking, or other activity you love.

Review

Reviewing your progress and your why can give you the perspective you need to see things through and keep your momentum going.

What is You Why?

The review of your goals, dreams, and action steps will give you the push you need to keep going. Why are you doing what you are doing? Why are you stuck? This review will give you the insight you need to continue on your path and keep your momentum speeding down the tracks.

Consistency

Being consistence with your tasks will go a long way in keeping your momentum going strong. When you have a schedule for anything: tasks, posts, social media, phone calls, documents, writing, progress, connecting, whatever, it’s easier to get things completed or even ahead.

Once you get used to completing tasks consistently, you’ll realize it’s a lot easier to go from one task to another, get ahead and complete your goals with ease. There is nothing better than knowing you’re accomplishing your goals every day with small steps along the track.

When things become familiar, you know exactly what to do, where things go and all the procedures that go along with them. It’s like being in school, you pick out the same desk in each class because that desk has become familiar to you. You know the immediate surroundings, how many steps it takes to get to anywhere in the room or out the door.

Become so familiar with your routines, schedules, and tasks that they become second nature to you and your momentum will continue to go strong.

Growth

As we grow in life or business, so to do our wants and needs for those areas. We get married, have children, start a business, get a promotion, etc. Those events will cause you to need or want different things for your goals and dreams.

You will need to change as your life or business does to keep with the momentum you’ve created. Be flexible, but consistent. Change what needs to change, using small steps to incorporate new tasks and goals, but keep your current ones consistent with your schedule.

Take Action

WIth anything that slows down, taking action will go a long way to helping you keep your momentum going. Nothing is a waste if you can do even a little bit. The idea here is to keep that step moving forward even if it’s just an inch.

Keep Up With Work

Do what you can to keep up with what you’ve already got going on. It may not be easy and you will probably need an extra set of eyes on your work to make sure it’s still up to snuff. Getting behind will only continue whatever slump you may be it, so continue moving and working toward your goals.

Get Ahead

If it is possible to, get ahead with any projects or work you have going. Getting ahead will allow you to take a small break when needed, while still giving you a sense of accomplishment for having things complete.

Keep Moving

Staying stationary can be hazardous to anything you are trying to accomplish, move toward your goal even if it’s just a little bit. Do some research, gather notes, complete one small step and then another. If you have things broken down into steps, but are even struggling to get those complete, break them down even more to even easier, almost effortless tasks.

Take Responsibility

You are responsible for what happens in your life, your business, and your dreams. No one else is to blame for your failure and success, but you.

Control

You are in control of you, your work, and your success. Whether you fail, meet your goals, or fly right by it and onto the next is completely within your control. Use that control to continue with your journey, goals, and plans. Don’t let failure win.

Time and Effort

Your time is important to you and the amount of effort you put toward your momentum requires planning and time management. Your use of time and effort will be a major factor of whether you succeed or not. Are you using your time to the best of your ability? How much effort are you putting into each task?

When things get slow or sluggish, put what effort and time you can into your tasks. Yes, every small step is moving forward, but you still want to put more than the bare minimum into your work when things get slow. The goal is to keep your momentum going, so don’t stop your effort.

Challenge Yourself

Create a challenge to keep yourself going with a reward if necessary. There is nothing wrong with rewarding yourself for keeping with your tasks and goals. You’ll be even more motivated if you have something else you’re shooting for. There is an extra added accomplishment when you defeat a challenge and succeed with your tasks.

Enjoy The Process

Be sure to enjoy the little things. As above, being consistent, creating manageable steps, and providing rewards when things get a bit hard will help you enjoy the process all that much more.

You should love and enjoy what you do in your life. Remember that when things get a bit rough. If you don’t and are struggling on a daily basis, it may be time to find something new. No matter how long you’ve been there, if things aren’t getting better, then it may be time to change your atmosphere and start enjoying you again.

The processes and systems you have are there to make your life easier. The steps you create to complete tasks make them easier to handle, complete, and move you toward your goals. If you don’t have anything set up to complete your tasks in a manageable way, you should get on that.

Waste Nothing

Everything you do is a learning experience, whether it’s good or back, success or failure.

Education

You should NEVER stop learning, whether that is learning is coming from a school, YouTube, Webinars, Seminars, Podcasts, Online classes/courses, or any other form. Anything you learn can be useful in some way to what you are doing now. You just have to look from another angle and find the connection.

Keep learning, reading, researching the things you need to know and you will get one step ahead of where you were. That’s the goal, right? Keep taking steps, keep moving forward.

Mistakes and Failures

Everyone makes mistakes and sometimes we fail, but that is where learning from our mistakes comes from. You learn what not to do and move on to what you should do. It give you the experience you need to continue on with your path.

The courage to continue after failure or mistake is phenomenal and takes guts. Don’t let it beat you down. Learn from it, take what you need from it and then move forward. It’s not an easy thing to do, believe me, but when you do, it’s amazing.

New Skills

Those skills you learned can be beneficial if you can find a way to use them to your advantage. Look for unique ways to use the skills you have to add to your current situation, provide a new perspective, product, content, or ways to add to what you already have. Grow your skills and use them for the better.

Time and Energy

Your time is important and the use of your energy is as well. Everyone has heard of time management and how it can come in handy for your schedule, business, and life. Using your time and energy well will help you gain traction, moving toward the end of the task or goal with ease.

You know how much time you need and how much energy it takes for each task you’ve set out to complete. Keep that in mind as you move forward.

Be Realistic

You must be realistic with your goals and action steps. If you are running yourself ragged because you didn’t give yourself enough time to complete the steps to get to your goals, then you’re gonna to suffer from overwhelm and frustration. Work out your goals, break them into manageable actionable steps, then knowing how much time and energy you have to spare will keep you on the right path.

The way you achieve your goals and steps depends on you and your schedule. Your time and energy are important for completing tasks. Knowing how much time and energy you have will help you focus, keep you motivated, and will help keep you on the path to success.

Build Community

Your community of supporters and influencers are one of the most important pieces of your momentum. Those that give you advice, motivation, suggestions and more are your connection to success.

In-Person

If you don’t have a community of people to help support, give advice, and motivate you, then now is the time to get them together. Search for those that will provide honest feedback, resources, and support while you do the same for them.

Schedule times to meet in person to go over ideas, get feedback, share resources and so much more. This group of people are your network and are there to help you as you are for them. Don’t go just to suit your needs, give back to the others of the group as well. You don’t want this relationship to be one sided.

Online

With the pandemic or perhaps you have those that aren’t able to see you in person, it’s easy to perform these meetings and discussion online. Use what you have learned from social distancing to keep in contact with your supports, giving them suggestions and support as they do for you.

You will find they are in integral part of you goals and success and you never know what you will learn from others, no matter their background. Keep an open mind and perceptions open to the new.

End Result

Your end goals and dreams are what your ends look like and keeping them in your mind as you continue is crucial to your success.

Goals

Your goals are what you set up at the beginning of your journey. They are what you are fighting to get to and what you are striving to complete. Never let those goals go to the back of your mind. Use action steps and visuals to keep them present as you work. Never Give Up! Keep moving, keep creating, and stick to the journey.

Accomplishments

Your accomplishments, even the small ones are steps in the right direction. Keep a notebook of your achievements and look back at what you completed. It will give you the motivation to continue your momentum and strive to succeed.

Focus

Your focus, although split between family, friends, work, business and more should center on what’s most important in each area. Allow those who can help, to help, and work your way though your to-dos with confidence. Your focus on goals and tasks are what keep you from falling behind and your momentum going as it should.

Patience

It’s not easy to wait for things to get done, or things to be purchased. Sometimes those things just have to wait, you can’t do it all right now and this is what creates overwhelm and frustration. You put to much on your shoulders to get done, then fail.

This is where those action steps or mini tasks come in handy, if you do a little each day, you can get a lot done in a week. Find a system that works for you and stay patient with yourself as you move toward your goals.