Momentum

Ever since I turned 30 and realized that I am nowhere near as accomplished as I thought I would be at this point, I have been looking for answers and truths about how life works. I have been redesigning myself, trying new things, and looking for the best route to becoming ME... you know that ME that I always felt I was meant to grow into. I know that I am just starting out on this new "journey" of sorts, but I have come across a fundamental truth that I never quite realized before now.

Momentum is essential to success.

I decided to google the word "momentum" to see what definition it would spit out. The top result was http://www.answers.com/topic/momentum where I found exactly what I was looking for ( further proving the amazing power of google and the internet at large, but that's a blog for another day). Beyond just a basic definition of the word, the page explains momentum to be the concept that "The faster an object is moving—whether it be a baseball, an automobile, or a particle of matter—the harder it is to stop." This simple concept could have a profound impact on my life. It's not as if I didn't know about momentum. It's just that I never realized before now just how much it affects me. Once I start moving in the direction I want to go, and actually start making a little bit of progress, it becomes easier to keep going and to build on that progress. For example, if I write in my journal every day for a week, I start to make progress in my writing, which then makes it easier to write even more in my journal and to branch out to writing more poetry or spending time on my blog. Also, if I lose a pound one week and then another pound or two the week after, it is easier to work harder in the weeks that follow to lose more and more each week.

This brings me to another concept that I hadn't really considered until I started reading that page at answers.com. INERTIA. "Inertia, as defined by the second law of motion, is the tendency of an object in motion to remain in motion, and of an object at rest to remain at rest." This concept goes hand in hand with the momentum theory really. If I stop writing for a few days, it is hard to start writing again at all. If I stop counting my Weight Watchers point values, it is more difficult to start it up again. But, if I'm following a schedule or sticking with a certain plan for more than a day or two, the inertia kicks in and momentum takes over.

You hear people say a lot that "persistence is the key to success" and that as long as you don't quit and you keep pushing forward, you will be successful. I think this is absolutely true. I think that most of the time, people who were not successful just quit too soon. For me, I think that if I can just set a couple of goals and then stick to them for a full week, the next week it will become a little bit easier. And if I make it through two weeks, I'll start to see results that will give me confidence that I am on the right track. Like a chain reaction, the confidence will push me to work harder and achieve more, thereby providing me with that magical thing, (cue cheesey inspirational music) Momentum. Keep moving, I will tell myself. Don't stop. Remain an object in motion, build momentum, never give up.