Yesterday I spoke about one of my favorite topics — building momentum. And honestly, I didn’t think I didn’t a great job covering off all the important aspects of building, maintaining and obstacles to momentum.
Let’s face it — we want to slow down in life but would always appreciate having that sense of momentum in place. I guess it’s what gives meaning to our lives. A sense of progress, success, and growth. Now, who wouldn’t want that?
The challenge, however, is that we’re living in times where information is found in abundance. That’s both a blessing and a curse. Let me not waste time counting our blessings. Overload of information can cause serious information constipation (I think I made that up!) that either distracts you or have you procrastinate away from your goal. And that slows down momentum. Sometimes momentum can come to a grinding halt!
Both procrastination and distraction are the whole of the sum of their respective parts. Procrastination, for example, is caused due to:
- Fear of failure — If there was ever an award for the most universal feeling, this would be it! The worst part, it’s all mental. And you have to work really hard to get over it. The sooner you recognize this, the sooner you will be able to come off the wagon. If you’re hearing yourself say, “What if I fail?” or “What would people think of me?” or “What if I am wrong about all this?” you’re sacred! Clarify your thoughts by writing them down. Do a SWOT analysis (or some other framework). Or like me, get a coach!
- Overwhelm — We tend to take on too much when we’re excited. And sooner or later that becomes a problem. You’re not THANOS (now that we know he has the powers to wipe off half of the universe, including our superheroes!). Chunk things down. And go step-by-step. That’s the best and the most efficient way to get things done. Like they say, “You eat an elephant one bite at a time.”
- Confusion — This is an extension of #2 above. Chunking down will help you focus better and eliminate chances of getting confused. Also, in my (humble) opinion, if you’re confused about the things that you should be taking on you’re probably taking on too much. Empty your cup and focus.
- Self-doubt — This is an extension of #1 above. It’s self-talk primarily. If you hear yourself asking “Am I even qualified to do this?” or “Who do I think I am?” or “What makes me so special to do this?” you’re doubting your capabilities. And even if your doubts were true, you’re not getting an award for that. Doubts creep up when you don’t have clarity. Get it. And see your doubts melt away.
And you get distracted because:
- New shiny/sexy goals! — almost everyone gets distracted by this. I’ve been a victim myself. I remember a few years back in just one month I changed my life-goals 6 times!
- Breakthrough strategies — that’ll shave off your learning curve. Entire businesses are built off of this little scheme. People across the world (particularly entrepreneurs who run their businesses entirely online) sell their systems and processes, e-courses, video courses and other “bundles” for a fortune to help us shorten our “curve.”
- New ideas — Everyone’s got them! And each time we hear it we get distracted. Because we think we can do better than the other person. It’s a trap! And a HUGE time waster. If you can’t work off of your old idea (probably because you’ve been busy procrastinating or it simply sucked) you won’t work off of your new idea.
Being aware of the reasons why you procrastinate or get distracted is a great start. Even then you probably are going to put it off for some other time. And that’s alright.
At times, I feel bad sharing these nuggets of suggestions/helpful advice (for lack of a better term) … but I can’t help it. People know this stuff yet struggle to fend it off and focus on the big picture.
I wonder why.
Or maybe I’ll think about that tomorrow. Someone just pinged me on Skype! 😉