Momentum Matters!

Maintaining momentum is key to getting results.

We all need some helpful reminders and tools to break our old habits in order to form new ones.

What I’ve done here is to jot down a few ‘basics’ for those times when everything and anything is easier than what you really want for yourself.


 Give Yourself 20 Minutes

You really do have 20 minutes for you in your day. There, I have said it for you. Permission granted!

Those 20 minutes could be about doing something or planning something.

If you’re working towards something please don’t create huge tasks. Several bite-size chunks are far more palatable and create tangible progress.

For me, the best 20 minutes of the day are in the morning. I’m by no means a morning person (!) yet this is my most level headed time of day. While waking up with my morning cup of coffee it’s a time when I have yet to be tickled by the demands of the day. It’s my agenda & framework time.

  • A simple re-familiaristion with where I’m heading helps me remain commited in my quest
  • Recognising progress made to date will fire up the Action neurones – only then jot down what else you need to do. Oh, and you will have made progress – recognise it and welcome it!
  • A good honest dose of balancing the list of activities and time commitments will help. Be real, yet proactive
  • That’s the time when I block out my own “me time” – which in my case will be diarising swims or a workout. If they don’t go in the diary they don’t happen. Why are we so good at blocking out time for others and then thinking we have no time for yourself. It’s your diary. Diarise your time and agenda. Make it matter. That was a hard lesson learnt with self

See what works for you.


action plan michael laffey life coach momentum matters

 

Action Pla’an!

 

Don’t let life get in the way of moving you forward!

There will rarely be a day when life doesn’t chuck something at you that you didn’t expect.

Equally, we are all prone to distracting ourselves before embarking on a job at hand.

If any of that happens, that’s OK – it’s life, as they say, acknowledge it and move on.

Simply be mindful of what you have achieved, what it is you want to do and, very importantly, why! Why matters for both maintaining the intention and focusing on the outcome.

Explore ways of getting into the habit of:

  • Touching base with the goals and tasks you have set yourself on a daily basis (see Give Yourself 20 Minutes)
  • Be truthful with yourself about what you can do today. You can do something – big or small!
  • Do at least one activity every day that brings you one step closer to your goal  – it could be a call or an email or jotting down paths & options or working with a new found opportunity
  • Don’t over think an idea or an email or who to contact. If it feels right, just do it! What you do will be more truthful and meaningful
  • Being in control of a situation and using all your resources to hand, The outcome will be better and it’s likely you will have more options to choose from than you expected

Perseverance – that elusive fairy dust that appears to be sprinkled everywhere else but in your direction.

Perseverance is a mental muscle. A use it or lose it situation.

Action + Perseverance = Momentum and continued Motivation

Motivation covers a spectrum of outcome pathways. A motivator might be about wanting to avoid an outcome (e.g. declining health or a parking ticket). Equally, it can be about the buzz and excitement of an idea and flying with it (e.g. a business idea, a new regime, moving home or job).

It is often the case that people move through ever more intrinsic stages of motivation as they see the benefits of their actions over time. This means that motivation usually starts with some physical act of doing something that we don’t enjoy but fundamentally know it’s good for us. As we recognise the benefits we head towards more intrinsic aspects of the outcome (deeper understanding, greater exploration, etc). In that way both the action and the exploration act as are our feedback loop of progress and momentum.

For me, Perseverance, Action & Motivation are rooted squarely in WHY.

  • Know what something means to you
  • What you are doing it for
  • How it will feel when you have what you want
  • Then hold those thoughts!

Be mindful of, and address, those habits that are holding you back.

Without doing the change, we won’t make the change.

It’s through changing our habits in combination with acknowledging what we believe and feel about our situations that we make true progress.

The outcome we want is a process of constant integration & re-blending. That’s why those 20 minutes every day are important in ensuring that it happens.