Category: momentum

One Decision At A Time

One Decision At A Time

To the outside world it wasn’t that big of a mountain. But it was my mountain and when you’re standing at the base of a mountain you’ve never climbed looking up towards the peak can feel quite daunting.

Mountains come in different shapes and sizes. Some are physical in nature, a great many more are the emotional and psychological inner mountains no one else can see. Embracing life-defining decisions can be even more daunting than standing before any physical mountain. 

The process of getting from where you are to where you want to be is the same no matter what kind of mountain you are climbing. It’s the decision to start, it’s the decision to keep going. One decision followed by the decision to keep moving forward and then the next decision to do the same. One next step at a time. One decision at a time.

Will I take one more drink to keep numbing the pain? Will I decide to sleep in instead of get up early to exercise? Will I keep tolerating their behavior because I tell myself it’s just easier? 

Every moment gives us the opportunity to decide if we are willing to move forward or if we are willing to stay where we already are.

We don’t have to climb the entire mountain at once. We just need to be willing to take the first step and then the next one after that. 

Not always an easy process. But that’s the process. No matter the mountain you’ve chosen to climb.

One decision at a time.

Photo by Lindsay Henwood on Unsplash

The Power Of Showing Up For Yourself

The Power Of Showing Up For Yourself

He’d be the first one to tell you it wasn’t his best effort. 

But he showed up. Like he always shows up. Giving the best he could give at that moment on that day.

Often our inner demands and expectations of perfection cause us not to show up. If we can’t give our best, we rationalize, perhaps we should wait until we can. Being willing to show up when you really don’t want to overrides the pride and ego and creates a very sacred space. 

A space where you honor the commitments you’ve made to yourself.

Momentum is an ever-present force in life. Fueled by consistency, it is either working for you or against you. 

Consistently showing up for yourself is one way to make sure it’s working in your favor.

Photo by Teemu Laukkarinen on Unsplash

The Momentum Of Accomplishment

The Momentum Of Accomplishment

“An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion.” Isaac Newton’s 1st Law of Motion.

While Newton was referring to the world of physics, he could have also been speaking about the world of human behavior.

Momentum has always played a role in my life. Perhaps in yours as well? Be it accomplishment or stagnation, I will usually continue to produce more of whatever I’m producing. For better or worse, I’ve experienced extended periods of both unparalleled success and indifferent mediocrity.

The challenge has been learning how to use momentum for my own growth and well being. For me, that starts with the self awareness of knowing if I’ve fallen into a place of indifferent mediocrity. If I have, I’ll unknowingly continue to produce more of the same.

Unless I choose not to.

Compassionate self awareness allows me to simply notice where I am without beating myself up for being in a less than optimal place that I know I really don’t want to be in. No matter how many times I find myself there.

Noticing allows me the opportunity to change my stagnant state into one of motion, one of me moving forward, one of me becoming more of what I have been created to become.

Unlike physical objects, I get to shift my momentum in any direction I like.

Sometimes a little shift is all you need to create the momentum to propel you forward.

Life is full of forces which at times can feel like they are actively working against you.

Don’t be one of those forces.

Photo by Fitsum Admasu on Unsplash

Buddha, Red Meat, And A Salad Fork

Buddha, Red Meat, And A Salad Fork

So, how do I not eat meat?

For a full year?

New Year’s Day for me falls in October. Because that’s my birth month. I’ve started getting far more intentional about what I want to accomplish in the 12 months between birthdays. Far too many years have come and gone and the only thing I got was older.

I don’t want to just be older.

This past year the goal was to do 20,000 push-ups, which worked out to be 55 push-ups per day, every day, for 365 days. I still don’t really know why I wanted to do it. I guess the Continue reading “Buddha, Red Meat, And A Salad Fork” →

Maybe Your Truth Is What’s Holding You Back?

Maybe Your Truth Is What’s Holding You Back?

“Someday I’m gonna climb that mountain.”

It’s 1992 and I’m on my way to Keene, New Hampshire for the first time. As I approached from south of the city I caught my first glimpse of Mount Monadnock. It’s not a huge mountain, but it was the tallest one in southwestern New Hampshire. That’s when I announced I’d be climbing that mountain some day.

And I finally did.

26 years later.

Self-promises and bold declarations are easy to make. But for me, at times, life has been far more talk than actually doing. Years went by as I continued to travel Rte 12, always glancing at the big mass of granite and trees, reminding myself that I’d climb that mountain some day.

Someday.

After my last birthday I began questioning many things in my life. When you realize you’ve had more birthdays than you’re gonna have your relationship with time changes. With that fresh perspective I decided to gently challenge myself and the collection of things I’d thrown into the rather thick “Someday” file. I wanted to look at each one and decide if it stays or if it goes. And if it stays, when was I actually going to do what I told myself I was going to do? Continue reading “Maybe Your Truth Is What’s Holding You Back?” →