Latest / Getting After It / 107 — The Power of Momentum: How to Start (and Restart) Progress

Transcript

107 — The Power of Momentum: How to Start (and Restart) Progress · Getting After It

• 0:01
  Brett: Welcome back to the show, my friends.
• 0:02
  Brett: Today we're talking about something that I think we can all relate to myself specifically and that's what do you do when you lose momentum?
• 0:10
  Brett: We've all been there, we've all faced that moment where things seem to be building towards our goals, towards anything that we're doing, and for some reason, we kind of fall off the wagon a little bit.
• 0:21
  Brett: What do we do to get back on?
• 0:23
  Brett: How do we confront that?
• 0:25
  Brett: Well, that's what today's episode is about.
• 0:27
  Brett: So if you've ever felt that way hopefully this relates to you let's get into it.
• 0:32
  Brett: Oh man, welcome back to the show.
• 0:40
  Brett: Guys, I am happy to be here today If you're watching this show.
• 0:45
  Brett: Guys, I am happy to be here today if you, if you're watching this, look how amazing, I look fantastic, right, not really, but I, uh, I got some more lights.
• 0:49
  Brett: So we're we're making this more studio like.
• 0:53
  Brett: So welcome back.
• 0:54
  Brett: We're.
• 0:55
  Brett: We're making more and more moves towards getting after it, just like with this podcast, with everything always progress, slow and sure.
• 1:02
  Brett: It's uh, it's what I always say.
• 1:04
  Brett: But I want to talk about something.
• 1:06
  Brett: I had some conversations with some people recently who one they fell off the wagon themselves with their goals.
• 1:14
  Brett: Specifically, they were making some progress towards them, they were feeling good, they were excited about it, and it's something I talked about, actually, in my last podcast is when you know, when things are new, people are attracted to novelty.
• 1:26
  Brett: They want to do the new thing.
• 1:27
  Brett: New Year's resolutions it's why a lot of them are so attractive.
• 1:30
  Brett: It's because, like, hey, you know, when January 1st comes around, I'm going to be dialed in.
• 1:36
  Brett: And for the most part, many people are Like they're dialed in for a while and then life happens, throws you some curveballs right for a while, and then life happens.
• 1:46
  Brett: It throws you some curveballs right.
• 1:47
  Brett: It makes it a little bit harder to get after it and you lose that momentum.
• 1:49
  Brett: And it comes from consistency, it comes from seeing small wins.
• 1:53
  Brett: But momentum really is crucial if you ever want to pursue goals, and it's hard to do.
• 1:59
  Brett: But when you build momentum it just carries you a little bit further down the line, like I've seen that a long.
• 2:08
  Brett: Or I've seen that in my own life a lot of the ways, like with running.
• 2:12
  Brett: Um, I mean, that's a great example because you can go out on a run and be really consistent for a while.
• 2:20
  Brett: You might be able to get your miles in month to month.
• 2:22
  Brett: But then let's just say, you know, something happens, life gets busier and your fitness takes a back seat.
• 2:29
  Brett: And then when you're ready to, you know you recognize that you have fallen off a little bit.
• 2:34
  Brett: You're like, oh man, I really just need to get back on track right.
• 2:37
  Brett: And the activation energy is so much harder to to start up.
• 2:41
  Brett: And actually I want to talk about activation energy for a second because it's something I've I've really enjoyed learning about and and studying.
• 2:50
  Brett: But I'll break it down to the most simplest terms.
• 2:55
  Brett: And activation energy and chemistry is pretty much it's the minimum amount of energy required for a chemical reaction to occur.
• 3:05
  Brett: It's the barrier that reactant molecules must overcome to transform into something new.
• 3:10
  Brett: So a simple breakdown is something that requires high activation energy is a slower reaction, aka it's harder to get started.
• 3:20
  Brett: Low activation energy has a faster reaction, reaction and it's easier to sustain.
• 3:25
  Brett: And there's also things like a catalyst which lowers the activation energy, making reactions more efficient.
• 3:32
  Brett: What could be a catalyst in this?
• 3:34
  Brett: We'll talk about all these things.
• 3:36
  Brett: But I thought about like what's a good analogy to think about and for me it was striking a match that simple motion, you know where you strike it on the box and it lights up.
• 3:45
  Brett: That's the activation energy that you use to do it.
• 3:48
  Brett: It has a catalyst on the match which helps it light and ignite a little bit faster, but then the wood itself is the sustaining fuel that keeps it going and ultimately you can go light candles or fires or whatever, but that's the activation energy needed in that reaction to start it and so, like if we want to take that and apply it to momentum.
• 4:10
  Brett: I think there's a lot to take from that idea of activation energy and how it applies to momentum, because think about anything that you've started the beginning is always the hardest part and it requires the most amount of energy to get the reaction going or get the action started.
• 4:31
  Brett: It requires so much energy because it's new and, as we are attracted to novelty, we're also afraid of it sometimes because we know that that first step is the one that's going to be the hardest to overcome, and I mean I've talked about that a lot with this podcast.
• 4:47
  Brett: It wasn't that hard to start in terms of like I knew everything that I needed for recording, I had all the softwares, I had everything that I needed, like mentally, to be able to get this done.
• 4:58
  Brett: But sitting down and actually doing it required a lot of activation energy.
• 5:03
  Brett: And I hear this a lot from people who come to me and they say, hey, I'm going to start a podcast of my own.
• 5:08
  Brett: I'm like, great, you should do it.
• 5:10
  Brett: They have these ideas about how it's going to be, how easy it will be for them.
• 5:16
  Brett: They ask so many questions about the process of getting started, when all actually they need to do is sit down and do it.
• 5:22
  Brett: It's not going to be perfect in the beginning.
• 5:26
  Brett: No one's an expert in the beginning.
• 5:28
  Brett: A beginner is called a beginner for a reason it's because they're just starting something.
• 5:34
  Brett: It's not until you start getting the ball rolling and maybe you record one, two, three episodes and you start feeling the momentum building and you have to latch onto that.
• 5:44
  Brett: You have to keep it going because otherwise, if you stop, guess what?
• 5:48
  Brett: That activation energy required to get back on track is going to be much higher.
• 5:51
  Brett: So the momentum is a force that either carries you forward or leaves you stranded, and I know this because I, honestly, I just lost mine.
• 6:01
  Brett: I've been dealing with a lot of stuff at work, trying to go after a new promotion.
• 6:06
  Brett: I was in Arizona this past week and spent a lot of time with my family, Like just things that aren't bad, but I didn't give myself the time to sit down and write and that's kind of what I lost my momentum in.
• 6:21
  Brett: I am dedicated to my journal.
• 6:24
  Brett: What I lost my momentum in.
• 6:27
  Brett: I am dedicated to my journal but, looking back, the last time I wrote in it was nine days ago.
• 6:29
  Brett: Until last night I got back on track.
• 6:31
  Brett: But it's crazy how fast you can lose momentum.
• 6:35
  Brett: And there's this quote where it goes something along the lines of like momentum is our consistency, our success is like drops in a bucket, but it can be lost or it's well, I can't even remember the quote, but something along the lines of success is built in drops and lost in buckets.
• 6:55
  Brett: And you can say the same thing about momentum it is built drop by drop in that bucket, but then if you let it go, you kick that bucket over and it all pours out, and it's something I think everyone has experienced in their life at some point.
• 7:14
  Brett: And momentum isn't just helpful, it really is everything, because then you're focused more on the goal, more and more over.
• 7:19
  Brett: And so I want to explore a few things in this podcast, first being why is starting the hardest part?
• 7:24
  Brett: Second, how small actions trick your brain into making progress.
• 7:28
  Brett: Third, the secret to lowering resistance and making success automatic.
• 7:32
  Brett: Four, how momentum becomes self-sustaining.
• 7:35
  Brett: And five, what to do when you lose momentum.
• 7:40
  Brett: Recognize the patterns, guys, because it always it's the same thing.
• 7:44
  Brett: I want to.
• 7:45
  Brett: I want to focus on point one and five real quick why starting is the hardest part.
• 7:49
  Brett: And then two or five says what to do when you lose momentum, because those two things you're going to run into it at any any point in your life.
• 8:01
  Brett: And let's talk about why starting is the hardest part.
• 8:03
  Brett: So we talked a little bit about activation energy, especially how, if it requires a bigger reaction, it's going to require more energy in the beginning and it's going to start slow.
• 8:14
  Brett: And there's this quote from Aristotle, which I've said many times on this podcast, but I love it we are what we repeatedly do.
• 8:22
  Brett: Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
• 8:25
  Brett: Most people never reach excellence because they never get past the starting line, and it's a sad reality.
• 8:32
  Brett: Everyone has potential, which is one of the reasons why I want to do a podcast like this To inspire others to go after their own potential, because it might not seem like you have potential now, and especially when you're in the beginning, like, whatever it is you're starting, if it's your fitness journey, your professional journey, if you want to get better yourself personally, or you want to focus more on your relationships.
• 8:55
  Brett: The beginning is always the hardest and you have to be focused on it every day and work on the momentum piece.
• 9:04
  Brett: Now think about a person who wants to start running.
• 9:05
  Brett: Maybe, like they'll watch videos, maybe they'll buy shoes, like they'll make a plan to get themselves excited.
• 9:11
  Brett: They'll hopefully listen to the getting after podcast for some tips.
• 9:14
  Brett: But you know, maybe that person never actually takes the first step.
• 9:19
  Brett: They're talking in their head like, oh man, I love running.
• 9:22
  Brett: They're watching all these videos, they're getting inspired.
• 9:24
  Brett: They're talking about making a fueling plan and they just bought some new shoes.
• 9:29
  Brett: Maybe they even signed up for a race, and none of that matters unless you take a first step and go out on a run.
• 9:37
  Brett: The idea of running is easier than the effort of actually lacing up and heading out the door, and I talk about that so much on this podcast.
• 9:45
  Brett: I feel like, because 80% of the time I work out, I don't want to.
• 9:48
  Brett: It's not until I go and I'm I like start getting into it and I feel that, um, just I just let it go and I just get the work done.
• 10:00
  Brett: It's not until I'm there doing the thing where I'm like, okay, this is fine, it's not as bad as I actually thought it was.
• 10:05
  Brett: And the same goes for you.
• 10:06
  Brett: Like, if you're feeling this resistance, recognize it for what it actually just is.
• 10:12
  Brett: It's just the first barrier.
• 10:14
  Brett: It's not a reason to stop, if anything.
• 10:17
  Brett: That should tell you that you're on the right path, because it's hard, and anything good in life comes from doing difficult and hard things.
• 10:25
  Brett: Small wins do, in fact, resist or reduce that resistance.
• 10:31
  Brett: And this is the second point I want to focus on with momentum, because once you push past the activation, energy, the small actions and ultimately the wins, it makes everything easier.
• 10:42
  Brett: That Well, because progress itself fuels more progress.
• 10:47
  Brett: And I talked to my aunt not too long ago about this.
• 10:53
  Brett: She is someone who I've always kind of you know, not necessarily like thought like oh yeah, oh yeah, no, she, she could never work out or anything like that.
• 11:07
  Brett: But she told me that she, um, she started doing small walks and that turned into like 20 minute walks, which ultimately led to 30 minute walks, and I think that's a great example of what it means to see that progress fuels progress and how, like yes, you should in fact celebrate those moments where you've never worked out before, but instead you've done a five minute workout.
• 11:35
  Brett: That's a small win and that momentum can build.
• 11:39
  Brett: So then maybe tomorrow it's like five minutes Wasn't that bad, maybe I can push it to 10 and you just keep going, but you start small and work your way up.
• 11:48
  Brett: Now there's this quote from James Clear, who wrote Atomic Habits, that he gives some very great tips in that on how to maintain momentum, and I've shared the story on this podcast where he talked about the guy who went to the gym and just he.
• 12:03
  Brett: Literally he was overweight but his first step was just going to the gym because he wanted to be someone who was known as hey, this person goes to the gym and he just started as small as he can by literally showing up and just being in his car, and then he drove home.
• 12:17
  Brett: The next day he went inside, but there's all these he.
• 12:20
  Brett: That's a great example on literally starting as small as possible and eventually the story goes where he got into the gym, he started working out more and lost a bunch of weight.
• 12:30
  Brett: So great for him.
• 12:31
  Brett: But james clear says this every action is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.
• 12:39
  Brett: Every action is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.
• 12:43
  Brett: What does that mean?
• 12:45
  Brett: Well, I broke it down.
• 12:45
  Brett: So think about it like this If you write for just five minutes, you cast a vote for being a writer.
• 12:50
  Brett: If you run for 10 minutes, you cast a vote for being an athlete.
• 12:54
  Brett: If you show up on time, you cast a vote for being reliable.
• 12:58
  Brett: And it's not about some massive effort.
• 13:00
  Brett: It's about consistency, which I've talked about.
• 13:02
  Brett: Consistency is what's going to pull you across the finish line.
• 13:06
  Brett: Discipline gets you started.
• 13:07
  Brett: Consistency helps you cross that.
• 13:09
  Brett: Those two create momentum.
• 13:12
  Brett: How do we lower the barrier to make success easier, though?
• 13:15
  Brett: So point number three Now.
• 13:19
  Brett: How do we make starting easier?
• 13:20
  Brett: Well, by lowering the mental and physical barriers to get the action even started.
• 13:26
  Brett: This is where systems and habits come into play, which are both very important with goal achievement and anything that you're trying to pursue in your life.
• 13:36
  Brett: Tim Ferriss says if you don't set the conditions for success, you are setting the conditions for failure.
• 13:40
  Brett: Let that sink in for a second.
• 13:44
  Brett: If you're not setting the conditions for success, you're setting them for failure Again.
• 13:50
  Brett: What does that mean?
• 13:51
  Brett: Well, let's think about how can we make whatever you're pursuing stupid easy to start, and like I mean, if you're planning on going to work out in the morning, what does that look like?
• 14:02
  Brett: Well, lay your clothes out so there's no question on what you're going to wear, and again, lowers your decision making process, makes it a little bit easier, just to go.
• 14:11
  Brett: And if you want to read more, maybe you leave a book by your bedside just to.
• 14:16
  Brett: When you get in bed, you pick it up, you read for five minutes, you read a few pages and then maybe the next day it's a few, a few pages more, like it doesn't have to be crazy difficult or you don't have to make intense or drastic changes to your habits.
• 14:31
  Brett: Now it's the small, consistent actions that create that momentum which allows you to add on more and allows you to reach your goals a little bit faster.
• 14:42
  Brett: You need need to remove friction, so like, if you're finding yourself very distracted at work and a lot of that's because of your phone, my advice to you would be hey, well, let's put your phone in another room while you're working or delete the apps on your phone that are making you lose so much time and are taking away from what you want to do and are just giving you an easy out Remove whatever friction you have, and the last one I would say is just schedule it.
• 15:08
  Brett: If it's on your calendar, it's a non-negotiable, you're going to do it, and this is something that I've recently implemented more, at least in terms of my writing piece.
• 15:18
  Brett: I love to write, and it's been hard as life has gotten more busy, but it's something that's important to me, because as I write, I won no-transcript.
• 15:35
  Brett: And then, two, it's a great self-release for me.
• 15:37
  Brett: I'm able to just decompress a little bit, right, and it's fun for me, honestly.
• 15:42
  Brett: And so I've now found times in my day that aren't as busy as other times are, and so that might be like my lunch break.
• 15:54
  Brett: I'm out there writing for 30 minutes, or it could be in the morning after the gym or whatever it is, but there is a time in my calendar now that I have dedicated to writing, because, one, I write blog posts now and I want to make sure that that content is good and relevant to you all, to the newsletters, like I want to make sure that that provides some good tips on how to tackle the week, which, by the way, if you want to sign up for my newsletter, you can go to keepgetinaffordcom.
• 16:22
  Brett: I just send, like a weekly newsletter with tips, things that I've learned, things that are helpful to me, and then again like talk about the blog posts and stuff like that.
• 16:31
  Brett: But when it's on the calendar I know it's coming and then again it's a non-neg negotiable.
• 16:39
  Brett: You just get it done.
• 16:39
  Brett: You sit down, you get it done.
• 16:40
  Brett: I don't have my phone in the room, I just want to focus on that.
• 16:44
  Brett: So when does momentum become self sustaining?
• 16:48
  Brett: Because that's a good question.
• 16:49
  Brett: Once you built momentum, the process starts to fuel itself.
• 16:53
  Brett: It's like I said, with progress fuels more progress, and a great example is think of a snowball.
• 16:58
  Brett: You've all heard this analogy before A snowball that rolls down a hill.
• 17:01
  Brett: It starts very, very small, but then eventually it gets so big that nothing's going to stop it.
• 17:07
  Brett: It gets so heavy that if it crashes into something, it's destroying it, like this big old snowball is just rolling down the mountain super fast.
• 17:14
  Brett: But it didn't start that way.
• 17:16
  Brett: It started very, very, very slow until you started picking up more snow, more weight and speed as it's going down the mountain right.
• 17:23
  Brett: So that's one thing to think about.
• 17:24
  Brett: Like it gets bigger, faster and harder to stop.
• 17:27
  Brett: How can we do that with your own goals?
• 17:30
  Brett: How can we make your goals goals feel like a snowball in terms of momentum?
• 17:35
  Brett: Well, if we want to like break it down to a very simple law of physics, it's that an object in motion stays in motion.
• 17:46
  Brett: Momentum can work for you or it can work against you, because every time that you're not doing the thing, you're building momentum to not do the thing.
• 17:54
  Brett: If that's writing, if it's fitness, if it's your professional goals, your family and relationship goals, anytime you neglect that, you're building more momentum to keep neglecting it, and it's again a scary situation to be in, but not one that can't be fixed.
• 18:12
  Brett: All I would say to that is, when you do find yourself either on the good side of momentum, where you're seeing yourself roll and go through the goals and you're feeling that speed build up, then keep doing the thing.
• 18:34
  Brett: But if you need to start small, that's okay too.
• 18:35
  Brett: Nothing great starts big.
• 18:35
  Brett: It takes time to build.
• 18:38
  Brett: Just recognize that and be okay with the fact that you won't be where you want to be in the beginning.
• 18:44
  Brett: Okay, no one ever is, and you have to be consistent in that.
• 18:49
  Brett: I've been running for four years now.
• 18:52
  Brett: When I first started running, I had 11-minute miles.
• 18:56
  Brett: I was very, very slow and I think the furthest I ever ran was seven miles at the time, but I didn't stop.
• 19:04
  Brett: Like it's been four years of me running and now I'm at the point to where I can sustain a seven minute mile pace for 10 miles and it's it's relatively easy for me, but it's because of the four years of not stopping that has gotten me to that point.
• 19:20
  Brett: And everyone wants to know.
• 19:21
  Brett: Like you know, I want to start running.
• 19:24
  Brett: What should I do?
• 19:24
  Brett: Or I want to, you know, have a podcast.
• 19:28
  Brett: What should I do?
• 19:29
  Brett: It's just start.
• 19:31
  Brett: No one wants to hear this answer, but really all it is is time and you have to be patient.
• 19:38
  Brett: Patience is a huge key piece to any success that you go after, because if you're able to understand delayed gratification, if you can put whatever laurel you want crowned on your head aside for a while and you could just focus on the work and focus on getting better yourself, then the results will dictate that.
• 20:02
  Brett: They will show that in fact, yes, you have.
• 20:05
  Brett: You have actually gotten to the point, to where it's easy to do the thing now, but it takes time and I don't want you to get frustrated, because many of the reasons that people actually lose momentum is because they don't see progress.
• 20:19
  Brett: And it's a sad thing because many people don't also understand that when they are in that phase, they're on the brink of progress, they just have to keep pushing one more day.
• 20:29
  Brett: And how sad is it to think that people start goals, especially in January 1st, like a lot of new, new new year's resolutions.
• 20:38
  Brett: They end by the end of the month One, maybe because it's hard and they're they're not expecting it to be as hard as they thought it was, or it could simply be because they just don't know how to, don't know how to add it to their day in terms of like being a actual part of their day.
• 20:57
  Brett: They don't know how to of like being a actual part of their day.
• 21:00
  Brett: They don't know how to keep that object in motion.
• 21:05
  Brett: Staying in motion, like patience is critical for all of that.
• 21:08
  Brett: On the days you don't see progress, you keep pushing.
• 21:12
  Brett: Now I want to talk about the podcast for a second.
• 21:16
  Brett: Just in terms of success Like, this podcast is tiny compared to so many others out there, and if you were to look at the numbers and compare it to someone else, you'd be like this is not a successful podcast, so why do you keep doing it, brett?
• 21:31
  Brett: Well, I've said this many times I enjoy it.
• 21:34
  Brett: I think this is an opportunity for me to learn, to refine my own skills, and if you go back and listen to my first episodes, you can see that that is the case.
• 21:43
  Brett: I've gotten better and it's because I haven't stopped.
• 21:46
  Brett: There are days when I question my progress Sometimes.
• 21:51
  Brett: I'll post a really good podcast.
• 21:53
  Brett: It'll get a pretty good amount of downloads.
• 21:55
  Brett: It'll have a decent amount of listeners.
• 21:57
  Brett: People will reach out and be like, hey, that was a great episode.
• 21:59
  Brett: Then the next time I post maybe has like 10 people who listened to it and in my head I'm like that kind of sucks, like I was just seeing the numbers go up a little bit.
• 22:10
  Brett: And if you get focused on purely the numbers, that's not a good way to determine success, in my opinion.
• 22:16
  Brett: It might be, if you're like a business owner or something like that, the numbers you should look at and analyze, but if it's a goal, I don't think you should put a number on it.
• 22:25
  Brett: You should not put a timeline on it unless it's urgent, or if you're training for something specific like a race and you have actually a timeline, but be in it for the long haul.
• 22:36
  Brett: That is how I would say momentum is most sustained is you don't put a timeline on it and you just say, hey, I'm going to commit to this goal.
• 22:44
  Brett: I am going to stay in it for as long as I can and see what comes from it.
• 22:49
  Brett: And so, yes, I'm.
• 22:51
  Brett: I'm coming up on three years of doing this podcast and, success wise, from like outside perspectives, it doesn't really add up.
• 23:00
  Brett: There's not much success to be had with this podcast, but I'm seeing the momentum come and I feel like I'm getting better.
• 23:08
  Brett: I am understanding what people struggle with and how to best go through that, because I myself struggle with the same things.
• 23:18
  Brett: Go through that, because I myself struggle with the same things.
• 23:22
  Brett: Like the reason I'm talking about a pod or I'm on this podcast talking about the importance of momentum, is because I just saw in myself that I lost it and it is a hard way to get back onto it.
• 23:32
  Brett: And that brings us to the one of the last things I want to talk about today is like what do you do when you lose that momentum?
• 23:38
  Brett: Because, if I'm being honest, it goes away.
• 23:43
  Brett: Sometimes, like life happens, we all fall off track and we miss a week or a month, maybe sometimes even longer.
• 23:51
  Brett: And the biggest mistake, I think, in my opinion, is just overthinking it, like you tell yourself oh man, it's been a week since I've written, it's been nine days since I've written something in my journal.
• 24:05
  Brett: Do I even want it bad enough?
• 24:07
  Brett: The answer is yes, and the answer is stop overthinking it.
• 24:11
  Brett: Just go and do the freaking thing again, get right back on track and tell yourself that you know what?
• 24:16
  Brett: Yeah, I might have missed nine days of journaling, great lesson.
• 24:21
  Brett: Now I know that, like hey, life is going to be difficult, life is going to be a challenge, and if I'm not in front of my goals, if I'm not actually making the time to work on the things that are important to me, it's not going to happen.
• 24:36
  Brett: No one's holding you accountable except for yourself, and that is the most important person that you should be accountable to is yourself.
• 24:46
  Brett: Jordan Peterson says that you should treat yourself like your own best friend, and what he means by that is like if you're struggling with something, and or if your friend was struggling like, let's, let's bring the fitness example into this, your friend comes up to you and he like, let's, let's bring the fitness example into this.
• 25:00
  Brett: Your friend comes up to you and he's like, man, I haven't worked out in 12 days.
• 25:03
  Brett: I don't know what it is.
• 25:06
  Brett: You know, I haven't slept so great, I've been busy at work, I've had to be up with a kid quite a bit, or whatever the situation might be, you're overthinking it again.
• 25:16
  Brett: Just get back on track, and the simplest way to do that I was just talking to my wife about this is start small, like, yeah, you might have not worked out for a month and so you're not going to be able to do what you did a month ago so easily because your body's adapted to a month of not really moving that much.
• 25:37
  Brett: And it's not until you bring that activation energy back and you recognize that this is going to be a much more needed Like it's going to be a higher activation energy action to take and you're going to have to realize that it's going to be a slow reaction.
• 25:58
  Brett: But eventually you'll get back on track and that lesson should teach you that like it's easier to stay in the fight than it is to stop fighting and then try and fight again, like.
• 26:09
  Brett: That is something that I think we've all dealt with before, whether, if you're an athlete, like, you practice weekly, if not daily.
• 26:18
  Brett: If you're a writer, same thing, and so the only reason elite athletes are able to perform the way that they are is because of the consistency that they put in with training.
• 26:32
  Brett: I love Kobe Bryant.
• 26:33
  Brett: I love his work ethic.
• 26:35
  Brett: I love the player that he was, work ethic.
• 26:44
  Brett: I love the the player that he was, and I love the stories of like how other players would look at him and be like this guy's different.
• 26:49
  Brett: And there's a uh, a great documentary called the redeemed team, which is about the 2008 Olympic basketball team, the USA Olympic basketball team, where, before Kobe Bryant was actually part of this, it was like LeBron James, dwyane Wade, some of those really great players that you look to, and they all came from different teams and so they're all in Vegas and I'm not really too sure, but in the documentary they talk about how they're the USA basketball team.
• 27:17
  Brett: They're some of the best players in the world, so how could they lose in the Olympics?
• 27:22
  Brett: Well, again, that's a dangerous mindset to have, but the coaches of the team realized that the USA basketball team was not meshing well.
• 27:31
  Brett: So who do they call in?
• 27:32
  Brett: They call in Kobe Bryant.
• 27:34
  Brett: Why?
• 27:35
  Brett: Well, kobe had the hardest work ethic I think ever maybe out of anyone.
• 27:42
  Brett: And if you read the book relentless or winning by tim grover, it's interesting because tim grover, he was the personal trainer of michael jordan.
• 27:52
  Brett: Kobe bryant wow, I can't speak right now.
• 27:54
  Brett: Kobe bryant and duane wow, I really can't speak.
• 27:57
  Brett: Duane wade.
• 27:58
  Brett: And he would talk about how, like michael jordan, he was one of the smartest players of the game.
• 28:05
  Brett: Like he would talk about how, like Michael Jordan, he was one of the smartest players of the game.
• 28:06
  Brett: Like he would work super hard in practice and everything like that.
• 28:08
  Brett: Kobe Bryant, same deal.
• 28:12
  Brett: But what's interesting about Kobe Bryant is that Tim Grover would have to force Kobe Bryant to stop practicing, because a big chunk of being an athlete is recovery.
• 28:21
  Brett: And Tim Grover was like you need to recover.
• 28:24
  Brett: Like you, you got to focus on that.
• 28:25
  Brett: And Tim Grover was like you need to recover.
• 28:26
  Brett: Like you, you got to focus on that.
• 28:27
  Brett: And so this guy, kobe Bryant, had some of the strongest work ethic of anyone in the NBA and the coaches of the redeemed team.
• 28:35
  Brett: They brought him on board, they convinced them to to come and play for them.
• 28:38
  Brett: And he showed up in Vegas and while everyone was out partying or there's a story that I believe lebron talks about where a bunch of the guys, a bunch of the team members on that usa team, they came in one one night like they came back to a casino it was super early in the morning, I think it was like four in the morning and they're coming back from a night out partying and ko Bryant is lacing up getting ready to go to the gym and LeBron says or whoever brought up this quote in the movie or in the documentary he's like man, I was losing out, like he set the example for me, and so then the whole team just meshed together and they built a working team that eventually they crushed in the Olympics.
• 29:29
  Brett: But they had to build momentum together and so, like, lebron talked about how the next day he was up with Kobe and then a bunch of the other team members followed.
• 29:38
  Brett: But think about that.
• 29:40
  Brett: It started with one player, kobe Bryant, setting the example, building that momentum, and then other players joined in and they all got better together and we I mean we really do overcomplicate a lot of the things that we like when we lose momentum.
• 30:00
  Brett: Like you could have said that USA Olympic team had no momentum going into the Olympics until Kobe Bryant showed up and brought it back.
• 30:06
  Brett: They were overthinking everything.
• 30:09
  Brett: Marcus Aurelius has this quote where he says you have power over your mind, not outside events.
• 30:14
  Brett: Realize this and you will find strength.
• 30:16
  Brett: So, whatever happens in your life, like as things get more complicated, as you have more responsibilities piled onto you whether that's you know, you have a kid, you have a wife, you have a new promotion at work, or you have a business and you have responsibilities there, whatever that is, you cannot control outside events.
• 30:36
  Brett: You can only control how you respond to them.
• 30:38
  Brett: So respond boldly, take that step and realize that you know Boldly, take that step and realize that you know momentum is is not built overnight and success is not built overnight.
• 30:50
  Brett: And it is a hard journey to be successful in anything Like it takes a while.
• 30:58
  Brett: But if you recognize that you can only control yourself and not other outside events, then the times that you do lose momentum, you can realize and recognize in yourself and in others that momentum hasn't fully been lost.
• 31:16
  Brett: It's just gotten a little complicated in life and you have the evidence that you can build that momentum back.
• 31:24
  Brett: And if you've done it before, you can do it again.
• 31:27
  Brett: It's just finding new times for it and working that into your schedule.
• 31:33
  Brett: Nick Bear has a quote that he talks about all the time where he says if it's important to you, you will make time.
• 31:37
  Brett: And so if something is important to you, don't give it up.
• 31:40
  Brett: Do not give it up.
• 31:42
  Brett: That's what's sad to me is a lot of people.
• 31:46
  Brett: They'll lose their momentum and just decide to quit when they were just on the brink of making a huge breakthrough.
• 31:53
  Brett: And if they just took one small action every single day, if they just took one small actions toward that goal, they would have a much different story to tell, and the same can be done for you.
• 32:05
  Brett: And so losing momentum is not a life sentence.
• 32:07
  Brett: They would have a much different story to tell, and the same can be done for you.
• 32:09
  Brett: And so losing momentum is not a life sentence.
• 32:11
  Brett: It's not.
• 32:15
  Brett: I built out just a small action plan on what do you do to rebuild momentum, and I just came up with some examples.
• 32:21
  Brett: So first, if you lose discipline, what do you do?
• 32:23
  Brett: Do one small thing today.
• 32:25
  Brett: That shows that you do in fact have discipline.
• 32:27
  Brett: If you've skipped a workout, skipped a few workouts, maybe a month of workouts, lace up and go get after it, even if it's short, it doesn't matter.
• 32:38
  Brett: Build that momentum.
• 32:40
  Brett: If you stopped writing, like me, then put down one single paragraph and just have it there and then the next day do the same thing, maybe it's two.
• 32:50
  Brett: I'm telling you that that is how it works.
• 32:54
  Brett: And here's the truth.
• 32:56
  Brett: Momentum is not random.
• 32:58
  Brett: It does not just randomly happen.
• 33:00
  Brett: It's built through action.
• 33:01
  Brett: Small wins and small actions ultimately compound into massive change.
• 33:08
  Brett: And losing that momentum is not failure, because it's going to happen to anyone who is ambitious or has big goals in front of them.
• 33:16
  Brett: It is not failure.
• 33:18
  Brett: Quitting is failure.
• 33:20
  Brett: If you quit, that's the only time you can consider yourself a failure.
• 33:26
  Brett: And I love David Goggins quote on failure because he says I don't look at failure as failure.
• 33:31
  Brett: I look at it as attempts Attempt number one, attempt number two, because ultimately that's all we have in this life is progress in ourselves, in others, in the things that we do.
• 33:44
  Brett: We're trying to get better.
• 33:46
  Brett: That's the whole point of getting after.
• 33:48
  Brett: It's not a nice little mantra, I say.
• 33:50
  Brett: It's not a podcast title.
• 33:54
  Brett: It's not just like a nice thing to say to someone hey, go get after it, it's a lifestyle.
• 33:59
  Brett: Getting after it means you accomplish a goal and then you set your sights on another and you go and get it done with the lessons that you learned prior to that goal.
• 34:10
  Brett: So what is your first step If you lose momentum?
• 34:12
  Brett: Pick something right now and do it, because the hardest part is always just starting.
• 34:18
  Brett: And until you get that ball rolling again, you're going to feel like you are making small progress, and that's okay, because if you're making small progress, you're going to feel like you are making small progress, and that's okay, because if you're making small progress, you're making something.
• 34:29
  Brett: And hold on to that.
• 34:31
  Brett: Don't get discouraged.
• 34:32
  Brett: Don't let it break you down.
• 34:34
  Brett: Use it as an opportunity to make something happen.
• 34:38
  Brett: And I hope this podcast wasn't discouraging at all, because the reality is you will lose momentum at some point in your life, but everyone can build it back.
• 34:51
  Brett: It's just through that small, through those small consistent actions, that you can be patient with yourself during the process.
• 34:59
  Brett: And if you can understand how to delay that gratification and be okay with delayed gratification, you'll make strides that you never thought was possible.
• 35:09
  Brett: The only reason I'm able to talk about this stuff is because I've seen it in my own life.
• 35:14
  Brett: With small goals, with big goals, the small things matter, so don't overlook them, because that's how you build momentum.
• 35:22
  Brett: If you know someone who's maybe fallen off the path, or you've had this conversation with someone, send this episode to them, because I think this topic is one of the most important ones.
• 35:33
  Brett: With pursuing any goal that you have, with any ambition that you have, you have to just keep staying in the fight, no matter how much you're able to do.
• 35:44
  Brett: No matter how much you're able to do, like, if we're using the fight analogy here, maybe you can only throw one punch a day, but maybe the next day you got that dude in a triangle hold and you just got him in a little headlock there.
• 35:58
  Brett: He's not going anywhere, and then other days he'll get on top and you won't be able to move.
• 36:02
  Brett: Maybe you could just kick him in the back, but stay in the fight, make small moves.
• 36:10
  Brett: And I appreciate you guys listening to this because, honestly, the reason that this podcast goes and the reason I have momentum with this is because I know it's helping at least, hopefully, one person.
• 36:18
  Brett: That's the whole goal with this podcast is every episode.
• 36:21
  Brett: I aim to just help one person, so if it helped you, let me know, leave a review, send me a message or send me an email, because on the newsletter you can always reply and you can also leave a comment on Spotify, like whatever.
• 36:35
  Brett: I don't care, I just want to hear about your stories, because your stories give me fuel.
• 36:39
  Brett: You know, I get excited when I hear people tell me things that they're getting after and their passions, and like it's so cool when I'm going to shout out my mom for a second here.
• 36:51
  Brett: She uh, all last year 2024, I had to fight her on starting to run because she's the one that kind of got me into running.
• 36:59
  Brett: When I was young she ran the Chicago marathon and I always thought that was so cool, like we had all these signs that we were like mom congrats.
• 37:06
  Brett: Like when she came home we had, uh, this giant paper flyer that said, um, nice work, dina soar ass.
• 37:13
  Brett: Like dina soar ass.
• 37:15
  Brett: Um, her name is dina, but dina soar ass because, uh, you know, a marathon kind of makes, makes your cakes a little sore, so, anyways, but I fought her all last year.
• 37:26
  Brett: I was like mom, you've ran before you can do it again.
• 37:29
  Brett: She's like, ah, I got a bad hip.
• 37:30
  Brett: I'm like, yeah, just start small, just go go for a walk, go for a walk, do a mile walk, you can do that.
• 37:35
  Brett: She's like, yeah, I know I can do that.
• 37:37
  Brett: And then, you know, I think halfway through last year she, she called me and she's like I'm doing Team Tim, I'm going to do the 10K.
• 37:45
  Brett: And I'm like that's awesome, mom, like I'm freaking proud of you.
• 37:50
  Brett: And now on every Saturday she runs six miles and she's a beast for it.
• 37:57
  Brett: She's 57.
• 38:00
  Brett: Sorry, mom, if I got that wrong, but you know she hasn't ran in years.
• 38:04
  Brett: And now she's out there running six miles.
• 38:08
  Brett: Why?
• 38:09
  Brett: Because she started small and she's been consistent and she's had this momentum going.
• 38:15
  Brett: And now, guess what?
• 38:16
  Brett: Sunday, the 23rd is Team Tim and she's running that 5K or that 10K.
• 38:22
  Brett: And it's hilarious because every time she says you know I'm running the 10k and man, you're gonna beat me, uh, in your half marathon by the time I finish, I'm like, mom, none of that matters.
• 38:35
  Brett: What matters is that you're doing something big.
• 38:37
  Brett: Like be proud of the work that you're putting in and don't compare yourself to other people.
• 38:41
  Brett: The same principle applies to you on your own journey.
• 38:44
  Brett: You cannot compare yourself to others because the same principle applies to you On your own journey.
• 38:46
  Brett: You cannot compare yourself to others because it is a personal journey and if you compare yourself, you're taking away from the fact that you are in fact making progress yourself.
• 38:56
  Brett: And don't let that go Like.
• 38:58
  Brett: Don't allow that to happen.
• 39:00
  Brett: You need to be proud of the work that you're putting in, because it is going to compound and it will turn into something that a year down the road, five years down the road, you will be incredibly proud of.
• 39:11
  Brett: That's how momentum works.
• 39:13
  Brett: I appreciate you all for listening to this.
• 39:15
  Brett: Hope it helped and I hope you start building more momentum towards your goals.
• 39:21
  Brett: Don't get discouraged during the process.
• 39:23
  Brett: Most importantly, be patient, because it happens.
• 39:26
  Brett: It just happens over time.
• 39:28
  Brett: So until next episode, everyone I appreciate you for listening Keep getting after it.