Whatever you're seeking a breakthrough for, be it a career promotion, dieting results, fitness goals, relationship hopes or business growth and development, there's one key ingredient you need to make it happen: momentum.
Imagine pulling your bike out from the garage and sitting astride it, with a path set out before you. Unassisted, if you were to put both feet on the pedals right now, you will briefly lean over, before toppling right over. That's basic physics, and you don't need me to tell you that life is like a bicycle, to keep your balance you have to keep moving. But you will need more than to just keep moving, you need to build momentum to really go anywhere.
Let's use this cycling analogy to help show how to affect your breakthrough. When you first push off on the pedals to move forwards, you have to apply more effort initially than you do once you've got going. After a period of of sustained and persistent effort, the wheels begin to turn more quickly, and a modest degree of motion has been achieved. What if your goals are bigger than that [...and I certainly hope they are]?
YOUR HERO'S JOURNEY
Let's take this analogy a bit further. You want more than to just trundle a few piddly feet along a flat and unchallenging path, lined with crash mats, warm milk and a soothing cuddle from your mum at the end. Instead, you want to embark upon your hero's journey, your mission in life, the reason you feel you were put on this earth. You want to conquer, grow, develop and push yourself to be exceptional, and to be the best version of yourself possible. You want to i.e.: compete in the Galloway Gallop Adventure Cross event; 68 miles, 4304ft elevation - as hard and fast as you can. [Calm down, I've not signed you up for it, it's just an analogy].
During your months of preparation and fitness training, it can feel like your progress is barely moving forwards at all, imperceptibly at best. This is where lesser mortals quit and give up. You're not a lesser mortal though, so you must keep pushing through the molasses of despondency, because it is only your sustained and persistent effort that's going to move you further forwards. Remember, your progress may be slow, but quitting won't speed it up!
With continuous effort, directed in a consistent direction, you will begin to notice the momentum and impetus building; everything is starting to feel a little easier, a little more fluid and smooth. You hit your targets, you reach your goals, you set bigger goals, and still the momentum is building and building. With this comes a strengthened sense of confidence and control - but you must still keep pushing, don't stop now. The power in your legs, exert power on the pedals, which turns the wheels to move you forwards, increasingly under their own momentum - but still you must continue to power down on the pedals.
Now you're moving apace, pedaling is so much easier than it was at the beginning. You've built a rhythm, everything is working in harmonious synchrony; you're thinking, you're breathing, you're taking appropriate, timely actions. At this moment something happens and your consistent, persistent effort leads to a breakthrough. Now everything is working for you, with you, rather than against you. Every rotation of of your bicycle wheels is building upon the work you have completed earlier, until now when you have achieved a seemingly unstoppable momentum, propelling you ever forwards towards the finish line. None of this would have happened if you had quit with the lesser mortals, but you buckled right in and tackled the thing that couldn't be done, and you did it!
Your enormous success is only possible because of a cumulative effect, an overall accumulation of effort applied in a consistent direction. The Galloway Gallop Adventure Cross was not completed by one single, defining pedal push, it was achieved by many, smaller, consistently applied acts of focus, perseverance and determination. Greatness is a cumulative process. You must be ready for, and accept, the step-by-step, arduous, one decision at a time nature of continuous improvement, which eventually all adds up to sustained results.
MOMENTUM DEMANDS MOVEMENT
Whilst competing at this level, be it the Galloway Gallop, a diet/fitness challenge or the growth of a small business, you can't afford to stop pushing or slow down. Momentum demands movement. It takes a tremendous amount of time, effort and energy to get any major accomplishment off the ground and running, so if you stop pushing, it will naturally start to slow down and eventually stop - or briefly tilt before toppling, as per the beginning of this post. Then you're right back at the beginning - at the point of inertia - having to apply mammoth levels of persistent time and energy again - just to get back to the results and momentum you had previously achieved. What a waste! Why allow your momentum to collapse like that?
FORCE MULTIPLIER
Now the good news is you don't have to do all of this alone, you can add a force multiplier to your ambitions by working with either a Small Business Mentor (for commercial endeavours), or a Personal Development Life Coach (for personal goals and growth). A force multiplier was originally a military term, and is defined as: A capability that, when added to and employed (by a combat force), significantly increases the (combat) potential of that force, and thus enhances the probability of successful mission accomplishment - who wouldn't want to add this readily available strength and momentum to a mission?
Whatever you choose to do next remember this one basic fact: Your breakthrough will come with the applied use of momentum, and momentum demands movement. Doing nothing - maintaining inertia - is not an option if you have goals to achieve. Add a force multiplier (me!) and you will be unstoppable.
Karan x