Building critical, creative, momentum
Small, consistent efforts are all that’s needed to build momentum for achievement.
Aaaaaaaaand………we’re movin’…..
On Saturday I went up to The CrossFit Place to do some exercise. It’s ok, because although all gyms are presently closed in the UK, I own this one, which makes it easy for me to get my training in right? Also, I’m an advanced personal trainer, CrossFit level 2 trainer and an expert in soft tissue therapy and movement retraining, so lockdown schmockdown, I have remained in Avengers-level shape and the only reason GymShark haven’t called is because they forgot my number. Right?
Meh.
So..........Saturday was interesting anyway! We were talking about Saturday weren’t we?
I arrived at the gym and once I’d decided where on the floor to train (it’s weird being in an empty gym), I wrote down some movements on the board I thought I’d include in the workout. Yes, ok, the ability to write my own workouts is something that lockdown has not depleted, but mainly because I’ve kept in practice putting together home programming for my gym members while we all remain in the “Gulag”. (I even have a bonus get-better-at-push-ups workout called Gulag push......oh never mind).
Anyhow, I had an idea of what I wanted to do as it was coming on the tail end of a week of actually getting a workout done everyday. This, you might be surprised (if you know me maybe not....) has not been the normal state of affairs since about August last year. My schedule was knocked alright??? Ok, my motivation was really the issue and I had other important projects...........ah, WOT EVA....
So the week had been sort of positive in the training area, but more so in the consistency area. I had decided what I wanted to do but more than that what I did not want to do. I had a pretty good idea of where, if I managed to keep going after a week, I wanted my training to go and also the results that I wanted to achieve. None of these things intimidated me. I had achieved goals before and I know what to do and how to do it to get there. Once you have achieved a goal that before appeared quite ambitious, the mystique is kind of lost and confidence is gained through experience.
The important thing for me is to keep it interesting enough and also - at present - pleasant enough, to keep chipping away daily. My energy / motivation levels, like a lot of you I’m sure, have been low due to the current domestic imprisonment, but Saturday!!! - mmmmm yes Saturday - things started looking up. The workout I designed was difficult but not soul destroying. It was varied but had a tight enough structure and after thirty minutes of interval training, I felt rewarded. I almost felt like I had been “in the zone”, but that was hard to tell as I was breathing through my ears at one point and my heart rate on the work intervals looked like the Aiguille Du Midi......still, I felt different than I had for a long time. I felt like momentum had kicked in. And that was it - the idea for this post started then.
Every. Step. Is. Part. Of. The. Journey.
Momentum. We can and often have to create, our own momentum. I had done some training for about forty-five minutes every day for a week and then when I hit Saturday I was in my stride as it were. I was feeling chipper for having done something each day and my muscles were still feeling it. I had given my nervous system enough of a signal that it felt like regular daily effort could actually be the norm once more. Now all I needed to do was keep the momentum going without overdoing it and maybe I would avoid those pits of discouragement where motivation seems to get sucked down into a well of, well late nights, TV and perhaps a beer or, um, two.
And that’s the thing. That’s all I need to do. One day at a time. Each session usually less than an hour and done and the effect starts to accumulate and my mind and body just get into the swing. I’m not looking at the big picture too much, just keeping a soft goal in the back of my head and once in a while gazing a little towards the horizon (Avengers, Achieve The Human Flag, Craig in Casino Royale. Ive always been a realist).
It’s the smaller efforts, if consistent, that bring us that - often subtle to begin with - sense of momentum that helps us move forward in whatever endeavour we are engaged in. For creative projects this momentum is crucial. As in training, this feeling of momentum, once we have established even a small period of consistency, becomes the energetic fuel for the very thing that brought us to the tipping point - the very activities practiced! Right now I feel like tomorrow’s training session is very likely, due to the fresh energy I’ve built up by just making smaller, focused efforts each day for a week. I’m writing this blog post (my second ) as a result of the feeling I got from writing the first - that it is useful for me in a wider creative sense and hopefully useful for you if you’re reading it.
Riiiiiide the rollercoaster!
The tipping point I mention above is really what this post is all about. Think about it like this: a roller coaster is designed so that the decline of the first drop provides enough speed and thus momentum to carry the cars through a certain section of the ride, before they need mechanical help to get to the top of the same incline or another incline for the same process to begin again. It is exactly the same in training and in any endeavour. To begin with we may have a strong vision and we may feel like we are ready to go full pelt to the finish line. We think about it and emotional energy builds and we might then start out actually acting on our feelings for this project. This is a crucial phase, because as we start to act on our ideas, we often fail to generate that initial sense of momentum simply because we are looking too far ahead, at what suddenly seems like an unattainable goal. Then we give up. From working with people who are significantly deconditioned for example, my feeling is that if they never really get started making progress, it is because they have not focused on that initial, consistent practice. Five days of forty five minutes each for me and I feel like I have fresh energy and inspiration for continuing for, well, another five days. Although the goal I have in my head might be lie somewhere further down the line, I know that if I just do another five days, well, that will be ten days then. Boom. More motivation, more momentum. Having a goal is important sure, but the goal - looking like an Avenger for example - will only ever be an expression of the daily consistent work put in. My goal right now is four days actually. Did another today. Win.
So, whatever project you are dreaming about, keep dreaming. Let that dreaming get you to the brass tacks stage where action of some kind is of course needed. But remember, it doesn’t have to be much, just consistent. If you have a book in mind, sit down, write out the idea. Plan the story, write the first paragraph but don’t try to do it all at once. Do one thing for thirty minutes. Set a timer. If you get to the alarm and want to carry on, do it. But do a bit every day and make it a week. That’s all. I guarantee you that if you do a week, that momentum will start to kick in. Use it to do another week, then another. You see where I’m going with this right?
Little steps. Small, consistent efforts. Keep going and the momentum you will build will lead to larger steps and longer efforts, just like in training. You have a creative project or dream? Respect it and respect yourself by starting small and building consistency and let the momentum start to carry you. Momentum is like a wave. To let it carry you, don’t get too far ahead of the wave.
Going back the the fun fair analogy, you’re going to have times when the roller coaster feels like it’s not getting to the top of the next hill. At those times, remember, keep consistent, keep chipping away, even if only for short periods, but do something every day and remember to feed yourself too. Inspirational reading, walking, doing something you love for fun etc. Feed your soul.
When it starts to feel like momentum isn’t there again, don’t panic, just keep some consistency and remember the coaster is just climbing again, ready for the next flowing bit and when you hit that once more, know it was because you built it up again.