When You Lose Momentum

It’s funny; I don’t think I’ve ever really been in this position before.  That is to say, I don’t think I’ve ever really “lost” momentum.  I think there have been times where I’ve slowed down, where I’ve felt myself losing momentum, but I’ve never actually lost it entirely.  Well, I guess there’s a first time for everything.  Because at this point, I have definitely LOST momentum.  It’s gone.  Kaput. Fizzled out.  And it feels wierd!

Years ago, in highschool physics class, I remember learning some law that says an object in motion likes to stay in motion, unless it is stopped.  This much I remember.  And this is the way I’m feeling right now.  Like everything has ground to a halt.  It’s all stopped.  What I don’t remember is how that same object can get started again.  I’m actually sitting here, in this space of my life, having lost momentum completely, and wondering “how do I get it back?”  “Where do I start?”

The answer that keeps coming up is “just take one step — any step.”  Which seems to make sense.  What I’m finding most intriguing, however, is how hard it is to take a step, any step.  It actually takes a LOT of effort (or at least it is for me).  And this is really frustrating.

All this being said, I must state that writing this blog post is — in and of itself — a step for me.  It is one thing off of my weekly task list.  From here I will send some email correspondence.  Then I will work on polishing my survey for interested participants.  Slowly but surely, i will keep taking steps.   And what I know for sure is that by taking one step at a time, I will build momentum and get my rhythm back.  The challenge for me right now is to stay in the “one step at a time” moment, until I get to the rhythmic momentum moment.  And I will get there.  One step at a time.

When An Idea Finally Breaks Through

So I’ve been sitting in this sort-of cocoon for a bit now, feeling this idea germinate, but not knowing when (or if) it would ever break through and come into being.  Well, last night at around 3 a.m., it did.  All I can say is “yippee!!”

Now, I will admit that at 3 a.m., I’m not all that coherent or lucid.  Ideas that come to me then are often forgotten by morning, leaving me with a feeling of frustration.  Because I’m often aware that I HAD an idea, I just can’t remember what it was.  Well last night, when the idea came to me, part of me knew I didn’t want to lose it.  So, in the dark I groped around for a pen and notepad and scrawled a note to myself.  This morning, believe it or not, the note was legible and the excitement of having birthed a new idea returned.

I know, you want to know what the idea is.  Well, in a nutshell, I’ve finally (after much processing and evolving) crystalized my coaching niche, at least in it’s newest form.  I’m fully aware that niches change, you see.  That’s what been causing me such angst.  I’ve been aware that my niche has needed refinement, I just couldn’t nail down the language to describe my coaching niche in it’s newly evolved form.  Well, now I’ve got it.  Ready?   My new niche is women CEO’s in Fortune 500 companies.  My focus is still as a life balance expert — I’m just taking this expertise to this very specific demographic.  And let me tell you, having nailed it down, I can feeeeeeeel the resonance.  Which is a darn good thing.

So now I’m into research phase.  Getting names and contact info, crystallizing my marketing materials.  The funny thing is that there’s a new-found momentum behind each of these tasks now.  I’ve been working on them for a while, but now things are flowing.

Bottom-line:  when an idea finally breaks through, so does the dam that’s been holding back the momentum to generate great work.  It’s a darn good feeling, let me tell you.