Have you ever noticed how some days everything just seems to be against you? Maybe you over slept or someone had finished all the cereal before you were able to get any breakfast. It could be that you ran out of clean socks or just woke up in a seriously unpleasant mood. Some days, it doesn’t matter what you do, it just feels like you’re wading through mud and everything is hard word. For some of us, this isn’t just a ‘some day’ occurrence this is a ‘welcome to my life’ kind of scenario.
Stuck in the mud?
Feeling stuck or like you’re battling to make ground is hard going. It’s exhausting. Staying positive when every step is a chore isn’t easy either. It is at those moments in life, when everything seems to have ground to a halt, that you need momentum. Forward motion, a kick-start to get you going again. The question is how? How do you get moving when it feels like your life is stuck in reverse?
Find your focus
Gaining momentum is all about moving, but it doesn’t help much if your movement is in the wrong direction. If you want to get somewhere it helps to know where your desired destination is, so you need to decide where you’re trying to go. Pick a dream. Visualise a preferred future. Set a goal. Having something to aim for is the first step towards moving forward. It helps you map out your next move (regardless of how small that may be) and gives you the motivation to get going.
Momentum is the bridge between a vision and its results.”
― Farshad Asl
Go for a ‘win’
Nothing knocks the wind out of your sails faster than a loss. Watch any sports team after their opponents have scored against them. Heads drop, legs get heavy and it requires a real effort to regroup and keep going. It’s much easier to find, and keep, your momentum when you already have a win under your belt. There’s nothing wrong with looking for an easy ‘win’ to boost your confidence and to get you moving. It can be something as simple as clearing a cluttered space that you’ve been meaning to tackle, completing a task you’ve been putting off or making your bed in the morning before you leave the house. It doesn’t need to be big or important because a win is a win. Even the smallest victory has the power to reset your day and put you on a positive footing.
Commit to the process
Momentum happens when you throw all your weight and energy in the right direction. Finding that forward motion becomes much harder when your approach is half-hearted and less than enthusiastic. If you want to get somewhere and see results in your life you have to commit to making it happen. Don’t believe the myth that momentum is always easy and pain-free, because you will be left sadly disappointed. If you want to move forward and achieve something in life you have to commit and keep at it, even on the tough days.
We all have bad days and rough weeks (and sometimes months) in life. The key is to remember that when circumstances seem to be warring against us we can choose how to respond. Finding a way through difficult seasons doesn’t always require a bold life-changing event or a dramatic twist in the storyline, sometimes all it takes is a single step in the right direction, every day.