Begin Building Momentum

I have a question for you - how are you doing with your New Year's Resolutions? I know it's still the beginning of January, but by now, most people have totally given up on them. I've seen all the suggestions to set goals instead of making resolutions - make them specific - measurable - give them a time frame. Truthfully, while setting goals is definitely important and something I do, I don't think that's the answer. As 2010 begins, I suggest we build momentum. Apply it to your health, finances, spiritual growth, relationships or career.

I think, with both resolutions and goals, we get excited and set these huge, extravagant goals. You know - lose 50 lbs by March, start a new business, begin making an extra $5,000 a month, find my soul mate. I definitely believe we should "think big" and set goals that stretch us beyond our comfort zone. The problem is we forget that no one takes one giant step and reaches their goal. The road to fulfilling any goal - whether it's improving health, finances or relationships - is paved with a series of well-thought-out, concrete, smaller steps. You may remember my article on the beauty of baby steps. I’d like to expand on that as it applies to beginning this new year.

None of us begins teaching our child to walk and gets impatient and disgusted if they take one or two teetering little steps and then falls. No, we celebrate and cheer them on and when they take three little, tiny steps the next time - we are thrilled that they made progress! Isn’t that the heart of the matter – making progress?

The Bible tells us in Zechariah 4:10 we are "not to despise the day of small beginnings." That's really good advice. In order to achieve any goal or fulfill any resolution, we have to schedule a series of baby steps, celebrating each success, no matter how small. This creates momentum. “Momentum” is a physics term meaning the product of mass times velocity. Another way to say that is how much power you have going in a specific direction or the tendency of a moving object to keep moving. I heard one teacher describe momentum as "moving in your moment." I like that!

We all have the same amount of time each day: 1,440 minutes at our disposal. Each one of those minutes is yours to move in. You can move forward, backward or stand still. The choice is yours. To my way of thinking, even moving a half-step forward toward the fulfillment of your goal is preferable to either of the other two alternatives!

So, instead of punishing yourself for not making more progress - congratulate yourself on the forward movement you have made in your particular moment. Don't despise them if they are small. Instead of focusing so much on the size, focus on the direction.

Go back to your New Year's Resolutions or goals. Break them down into baby steps and see how much progress you have already made! Let me know so I can celebrate with you. This is your year to move in your moment! Begin right now!

Take a Step:

Create momentum in achieving your health goals by sharing them with someone you trust and committing to giving them periodic updates on your progress. Have one action you can take each day to “move in your moment.” It doesn’t have to be BIG – walk an extra 100 steps; drink an extra glass of water. Just create momentum and it will effortlessly carry you forward!

Until next time, I wish you vibrant health. Ann