Are you using dream momentum to achieve your goals?
The alarm is blaring again. It’s 5:30 a.m. and the cats start meowing for their breakfast. I smack the alarm and can barely roll over. Sore muscles everywhere. Standing in my bedroom in the pitch black of early morning, dream momentum is not high on my list. With cats winding around my ankles I mutter quietly to myself.
What the hell am I doing?
It’s not often that this fitness dreamer lets my voice of doubt escape out into the world. However this is a question that, in a few variations, my friends and loved ones have voiced recently. I can’t say I blame them.
What is “enough” dream momentum?
If my fitness goal was to maintain my 80 pound weight loss, my boot-camp class 3 times a week would probably cover it. I can tell you that it is not enough in order to reach my new and improved triathlon dream goal.
One sunny afternoon my coworker asked me if I made it out for my walk. I made a lunchtime run or walk a habit here at work, so apparently my collegues have noticed. That particular day I forgot my running gear and had to settle for a speed walk (no running bra = no running), but I mentioned that I was going home to jump on the treadmill for a couple miles then riding around the neighborhood since I’m still getting used to my bike. Her response made me laugh.
You do more in one week than I’ve done in the past 6 months!
Funny. There are days like I mentioned above, where I can barely stand getting out of bed, stiff or sore from a workout from the days before.
On the flip side of the coin, there are days where, despite the sore muscles, I push a little harder and wonder how long it will take until the next percentage of body fat will drop off.
Top 8 Ways To Keep Dream Momentum
1. Focus.
It is so much easier to keep your focus than it is to lose it and try to re-establish it after a period of time. Ask any of the dreamers here on 8 Women Dream. Getting back on track is so much harder than staying laser focused on your dream.
2. Stay hungry.
What does your dream payoff look like? Visualize yourself there, your dream already accomplished. See it, feel it and reinforce the payoff in your mind.
3. List why your goals are desirable.
Put this list where you will see it every day. Dream boards are great for this! My recently updated dream board shows winning moments at races that helps keep me inspired toward my fitness dream.
4. Push yourself.
Discipline is the only thing that has kept my healthy goals on track. What challenge can you give yourself today for your dream? Remember… if it were easy, everyone would be doing it.
5. Carve out a consistent block of time to work on your dream.
Consistent execution is vital to that rewarding feeling of progress. Don’t wait for this free time to magically “open up.” This is your commitment to your dream momentum, so honor it and treat it as if you are meeting with another person and keep the appointment. Consider it as a meeting with your muse!
6. Work on your project every day.
No seriously, every day. Momentum is driven by frequency and not necessarily the duration spent working on your dream. If it’s just an hour a day, that is enough to keep your focus making it easier to get back in the flow when you sit down to work on it again.
7. Do you have your BHAG?
That’s a “big, hairy, audacious goal” that you want to kick butt on this year. Write it down along with the one thing you can do today to make it happen. Need proof that writing it down makes a difference? Conducting a study of a graduating class at Harvard, researchers noted how many graduates had concrete goals of their income expectations. Only 3% had written their goals down. Ten years later, that 3% were making more than the other 97% combined. Now that is dream momentum power!
8. Don’t be afraid of momentum!
So many of my fellow dreamers have put the brakes on just when the momentum of their dream really kicked in.
Many of us fear too much momentum. We look at a project launch or a job or another new commitment as something that might get out of control. It’s one thing to be a folk singer playing to a hundred people a night in a coffeehouse, but what if the momentum builds and you become a star? A rock star? With an entourage and appearances and higher than high expectations for your next work?… Deep down, this potential for an overwhelming response alerts the lizard brain and we hold back.
~ Seth Godin
What is your commitment to your dream momentum?
Get out your calendar. No really, go get your calendar. Pick a 15 minute section of your day (don’t think, just do). Write this in the meeting title: My Dream (fill in the blank).
For example, mine would read: My Dream Workout Plan (for when I need to research something), or My Dream Pitch Letter (so I can start drafting pitches to fitness companies).
Make sure you have some way of reminding yourself – whether it’s technology chiming or a your regular break time at work.
What’s the first thing you put on your calendar? Share in the comments and we will cheer you on!
~ Heather
Image attributed to desbyrnephotos and modified under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License.
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Heather Montgomery is a fitness writer, triathlete, and serial entrepreneur who is devoted to sharing what she has learned about becoming a triathlete after age 40. She uses her Metabolic Training Certification to help other women struggling to get fit in mid-life. She lives and trains in Santa Rosa, California, the new home of the Ironman triathlon. You can find her biking the Sonoma County wine trails.
Note: Articles by Heather may contain affiliate links and will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on an affiliate link.
