Harnessing the Power of Momentum
Posted in Personal Development on September 21st, 2007 by Erin DietrichWhen Yoda said, “May the force be with you,” he may not have been referring to the particular force I am talking about, but perhaps he should have been; momentum. Momentum is much under recognized and under appreciated when working to create change and growth.
Are vague memories from high school physics coming back to you? Remember when your teacher stood at the blackboard and defined momentum? Okay, maybe not, so let me remind you, momentum is mass times velocity. Or in plain English momentum describes a well known truth; the faster an object is moving, the more difficult it is to stop.
Outside of the classroom, the concept of momentum is applicable to a wide variety of things. If you are running up a hill and your legs start burning you will want to stop first consider your options carefully. Stopping in the middle of an upward climb only makes it that much more difficult to start up again. It is far easier to just keep going. This is momentum at work.
This same principle holds true when trying to change or create a habit. Take for example, a caffeine addiction. Say you have successfully managed to refrain from drinking any caffeine for one full month, you have momentum. This momentum is lost the minute you decide to reward yourself with just one cup of coffee or soda. Oops, now you have to restart the whole quitting process again. You had momentum, and now it is gone. The same can be true of self improvement or self reflection. In the middle, as things begin to really hurt or you are making some big changes, you may be begging yourself to stop. DON’T DO IT! You have momentum on your side. You are gaining speed and by stopping, things will slow back down.
The beauty of momentum is that once you recognize it, you can work with it allowing its force to carry you along. If properly understood this truth can be a powerful motivator in and of itself. It takes work to build momentum, yet with relative ease you can maintain it. It also takes work to break momentum and once it is broken the process of building it starts again at the beginning. A further danger exists in the fact that it is typically towards the middle or the end, right before a huge breakthrough, that the fatigue makes you question whether it is worth the work to get the momentum back.
Stopping a run midway up a hill is just that - stopping. To begin again means you are starting over, which is okay, because you still have run everything before you stopped. However, it also means finishing up is a bit harder than it would have been if you had never stopped in the first place. If you stop building back your momentum gets harder and harder each time. Once you have started down a path, whatever it may be, do not stop. Soon you will be moving along at a pace you would not have guessed or dreamed you would have been able to achieve through harnessing the power of momentum.
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September 21st, 2007 at 10:03 am
Momentum isn’t always a positive thing, however… sometimes it can carry you into territory you never wanted to enter.
September 21st, 2007 at 11:08 am
Nice point Jason. I guess the same principles can hold for “negative” momentum as well. But it seems with the “negative” momentum it is easier to start up again once you quit…and that brings us back to habits.
September 21st, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Downhill momentum is always easier to build than uphill momentum… unfortunately, in terms of the momentum we’re referring to.
September 21st, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Good stuff Erin. This was something I was thinking about after Jason’s guest post about internal vs. external motivation. One way of using external motivation is to build momentum, then, as the momentum continues to carry you forward, build up some internal motivation to keep the momentum going even if the external motivation fades.
September 21st, 2007 at 10:05 pm
I don’t use the idea of momentum as much as I use the idea of inertia. When I start something I’m partially reluctant to do, I keep in mind that starting is the hardest part. I think in terms of those huge cruise boats. When they start the motor roars and the water churns…and nothing seems to happen. Finally the boat will move an inch, then two, and eventually it has built up some momentum and takes off. I accept the fact we humans have a lot of psychological mass, so I don’t beat myself up when starting is slow.
September 21st, 2007 at 11:21 pm
Fabulous topic! Yoda also said, “Already know you that which you need.” He understood the energy fields around us and how to harness them to ‘do good.’ Physics offers scientific proof to substantiate the existence of these energy levels.
So, if you choose to take this a step further, you can understand more how problems are perceived. If problems begin as a lack of faith, a spark of doubt or fear, these negative feelings emit a low level of energy. You may not see these energies, but you can often feel the discomfort they cause. Had you not lacked faith, been tempted by doubt or, given into fear, the lower energies wouldn’t have formed and the discomfort would be gone. Situations gain and lose meaning based not only on how you interpret what energy fields are already around you, but also based on how you influence the waves of flow. Higher levels of energy bring positive feelings and may build feelings interpreted as anticipation or momentum.
September 22nd, 2007 at 1:50 am
Great post Erin! Momentum can be a scary feeling if you are not used to it. It could explain why so many people quit right before a big breakthrough. The pace gets quick, things start happening fast, and it can get pretty scary. For a lot of folks it is uncharted territory, so they panic and get things back under control…or so they think. What they don’t realize is what they really wanted was within their reach.
Your posts are always timely, Steve
September 23rd, 2007 at 11:02 am
Jean, the idea of inertia interests me too. An object n motion stays in motion, and the same being ture for objects at rest. It is true, that sometimes the hardest part of change is just getting started. I am currently in a quandry in my personal life that I know what I need to do, and how to do it, I just don’t know how. Harnessing the power of inertia would definately help me through.
Liara, I wonder if these energy field don’t just influence the person creating them, but the people who they surround themselves with as well.
Steve, it continues to perplex me why people always quit when they are on the edge of a breakthrough. I have been guilty of this as well. Is it the fear of getting what one actually desires? The fear of the unknown? Of success? Of disappointment that it may not be the be all end all? A lack of realization that they were almost there? What is it???
September 23rd, 2007 at 11:16 am
Erin,
When I have trouble getting started I try to patient and gentle with myself, and I try to break the task down into small steps. I really do believe we have a lot of “psychological mass”…we do ourselves a disservice when we think we should be able to do something right away just because we can think about it.
Steve and Erin,
About people quitting on the edge of a breakthrough…maybe they’re afraid they’ll completely lose their bearings? I have a lot of respect for that concern. There was a discussion on another site a while back about whether it was better to take small steps or to just make a major change in one great leap. If I have to make a major change, I want plenty of time to process what’s going on and to restore a new equilibrium. Having some sort of a support system in place is a good idea, too.
September 23rd, 2007 at 6:12 pm
I definately am one in favor of small steps. Big steps seem to often be too jolting and one ends up back where they began - and usually dug in a bit deeper. I agree Jean, even the big step tasks can be over come through smaller steps. The difficulty sometimes lies in identifying exactly what those steps are. Sometimes all that can be seen is the big change that needs to happen.
September 24th, 2007 at 11:20 am
I think the stopping on the verge of breakthrough may be partially because they have been so focused on the journey that they would have no idea what to do if it was over. If all of your focus has been on the striving to get somewhere, then what do you do with all that focus once you’ve arrived? You have to find something new to focus on, and that can be intimidating.
September 24th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
Erin,
Creativity requires patience. If I know where I want to wind up but don’t know how to get there, I keep gathering relevant information to keep the issue in my mind. And I remind myself, “When the pupil is ready, the master will come.” Sooner or later insight comes. Or else some opportunity presents itself and I can take advantage of it because I’m prepared.
Thanks for the comment on Living Every, Every Minute. That picture of the baby touches my heart every time I look at it. She looks so sweet and vulnerable.
September 27th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Jason, I agree that stopping in the middle allows one to continue to long and dream of. And what if the final goal is not as great as one had envisioned? What if it doesn’t solve every problem they had, like expected? Oh, better stop, before one encounters that! Maybe they are striving for the wrong thing, and somewhere deep down know this. If they attain their goal they may have to, gasp, face what is really the root of the problem.
Jean, with patience we typically have two choices - to sit and be patient or fight to forge our own path. The funny thing is, both approaches typically bring us to the same spot at the same time, one just leaves you feeling exhausted.
September 27th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Speaking of momentum… I feel the need for a push. I hit my goal of 100 subscribers, and set a new goal of 500, then my wife told me she wanted that for an anniversary present (My anniversary is November 20th). That’s a huge goal in that time frame… it’s a bit overwhelming.
I’m not saying that I can’t do it, but man that mountain sure looks tall from here.
And I stayed up late last night, so I’m tired… doesn’t help with the building of momentum
September 27th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
By the way, where are you guys located again? Your time on your blog is set to Central time… I thought I remembered you being on the west coast.
September 27th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Jason, CONGRATULATIONS on 100 subscribers! Yes, 400 more by November 20th is big, but one step at a time. If you just focus on growing at the same rate, rather than the actual number it may not seem as daunting. You have momentum Jason, keep it up!
No west coast for Jenny and I, we are definately Central time.
September 27th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Ah, well, one of those odd associations that stuck in my mind… probably read something on another site then popped over to read a comment on yours and confuzzled (confused due to fuzzy thinking) the two.
Oh, and thank you for the congratulations. I’m pretty happy about it, just like I said… that mountain sure looks big from here.