I think all of us have felt the power of motion. It’s that sweet spot where you’ve established a rhythm that flows with decent ease and produces fruitful rewards. Such as when you’ve got into a strong routine of going to the gym, and your rhythm of workouts is so established that you’ve been at it for long enough to see strength build in your muscles. And then I’m sure we’ve all experienced the progress killers, too. But of them all, there seems to be 4 major ones that show up. That’s why I’ve written this blog on the 4 progress killers and how to beat them with the power of motion.
Many things could distract us or squash our momentum, but of all these things there are 4, substantially lethal ones that shouldn’t be given a seat at your table. They are the biggest progress killers, the most daunting to look at. But all of them can be overcome if you know how to trigger motion.
Unsupportive or Negative Feedback
Unless you’ve got the rare ability to block out the noise of this world, you do care about what people think of you; at least to a certain degree. It’s a very human thing to look to others and confide in their opinions when we want to confirm that our choices and actions have been wise ones. It’s a very important part of our connections. We need mentors, confidants, supporters and cheerleaders. But not everyone is going to be this for you.
There will be the nay-sayers. The challengers. They might raise concerns, or have a negative opinion towards the goal you’re trying to reach. And this can be incredibly disheartening. If that persons opinion matters enough to us, it can even stop us from pursuing that goal completely. Although it doesn’t have to be, this can become a progress killer – goodbye power of motion.
Here’s the thing. We need the challengers and nay-sayers in our life because they challenge our perspectives and raise points that we might not have been aware of. They can strengthen your arguments, your beliefs, your perspectives, and your skills.
But we need to choose whose opinions we listen to, to make sure the whole world doesn’t have a say over our dreams.
Create a trust circle for yourself, or a ‘board of members’ for your life. And then we need to process the words and advice of all the people in this circle, to make a reasoned decision forward. Sometimes the advice just means we have to change our approach slightly.
The Exhaustion Of Multiple Roadblocks
Sometimes the roadblocks just keep coming one after the other. After you’ve overcome the one, you’re hit smack bang in the face with the next. This can be an incredibly exhausting and disheartening experience. It makes me think of CAFE Life’s co-founder, Mandy, as she has been in it knee-deep, trudging through the process of registering Sivala Isikhala, an NPO that has been a long-term vision of hers. The journey is tedious, and not for the faint-hearted. Every step is accompanied by piles of paperwork and regulations. But Mandy stuck through and has the joy of reaping her rewards.
Her secret? Knowing the hard part. Everything worthwhile in this life has a hard part. Think of it; to learn a new talent, you must put in the hours of studying. To become fit, you must endure the sweat and the pain of workouts. To become financially secure, you must resist the temptation to spend rather than save. The hard part is where most give up. But if you know what the hard part is before you enter the journey towards your goal, you’ve diminished the element of surprise and given yourself the advantage of preparing for it.
If you haven’t reckoned with the hard part of your goal, I suggest you do it right now. Look at it square in the eyes and ask yourself whether the hard part is worth it for you. If it is, well done, you’ve given yourself a head start. If it’s not, be grateful you discovered this before spending any time or energy on something that never would have succeeded.
Losing Touch With Your Original Passion
Do you remember the first moment you decided to set your goal or pursue a dream or desire? Do you remember that feeling you had, that great purpose of WHY you wanted it?
At the root of all success, there is passion. Passion is the burning fire that compels us to move forward. It is our compass when the fog of un-motivation or fatigue rolls in. Passion connects us to why we wanted to pursue that desire in the first place.
If you don’t connect with that passion and purpose regularly, it will slip into your subconscious and remain there until you call it back out again. I’d say this is one of the most important things to reckon with when you’re trying to beat any type of progress killer and tap into the power of motion.
The lack of passion often equals despair. Does the thought of a monotonous, compliant, stagnant life scare you? I bet it does. It scares me!
That is what a life without passion looks like. There is no clarity in direction and purpose.
We are all destined for something great. And our passions always align with that something. If we don’t pursue it, we’re letting our passions slip by.
You know we love Simon Sinek. And he’s immaculately explained the power of your WHY in life, and how it’s the most important part of your strategy to achieve goals. If you haven’t heard his TEDx Talk, you need to stop reading right now and do so.
Lack Of Vital Resources
This is such a big one. As long as we feel like we don’t have the needed resources, we won’t take a step forward. A progress killer of note, this is.
Imagine a mother who has a young child that keeps her up at night. Her desire to start a business from home will always feel out of reach because she never has the energy needed to make a start.
Or imagine a young man who wants to become a pilot, but doesn’t have the finances. How can he study for it unless he obtains that resource?
When vital resources are low, our movement is slow. But here’s the true power of motion.
It’s not about the giant leaps forward, but rather it’s about the small, consistent steps we take.
That’s the secret. If you want to succeed badly enough, you can take small steps towards it. This means you must face the hard part. Put small steps in place to work forward, whether it’s saving small amounts to go towards studying, or prioritizing a few hours on a weekend to dig into your business ideas or committing to 10 minutes of writing every day – make a start.
The power of motion is closely tied to the power of habit building. James Clear is the habit guru and maps out everything you need to know about building successful and achievable habits in his book called Atomic Habits. This book will serve you as one of your most valuable tools in your journey towards success.
Now That We Know The Progress Killers, How Do We Beat Them?
No matter which of these progress killers you face, they can be beaten with the same 5 steps. And the beauty of these steps is that you can return to them whenever you feel yourself derail or return to a feeling of being stuck in the mud. The best part is, they’re not even that complicated.
1 – Become aware: Which progress killer is showing its ugly face to you today? What happened to trigger it? The first (and arguably most powerful) step to disempowering the progress killers is to become aware of them. Practice becoming aware of them, even if it’s after they’ve arisen. The more you practice, the easier and quicker it will be for you to notice them.
2 – Re-centering on your WHY: As soon as you’ve become aware of being stuck, you need to remind yourself why you’re doing this in the first place. What is your core passion and WHY? Reconnect with it and let it fuel your motivation to take a step forward.
3 – Make a start: Don’t dive into the deep end. Just take that first step. As long as you’re moving forward, you’re doing good. And the achievement of your first step will undoubtedly fuel a desire to take another.
4 – Be consistent & track your progress: Consistency is key! It’s not the measure at which you move forward that counts, but the consistency. Set achievable steps forward and stick to them. Always track your progress visibly, because seeing progress visibly is proven to increase your sense of satisfaction and increase your motivation, especially when delayed gratification is involved.
5 – Feeling stuck again? Go back to point 1: Here’s the beauty of this process – if you sway off course, just go back to point one. I think of it as being like the practice of meditation. If one’s mind drifts off course and starts to wander, once we become aware of it we gently guide it back to awareness and place it on track. Treat yourself like this too, with a gentle and guiding approach.
Nobody said it would be easy, but I can tell you with confidence that it will be worth it. The pursuit of passion is so incredibly rewarding, for yourself and those around you.
It’s okay if we need guidance and help. Luckily, there’s a sea of resources out there that can help.
Looking for a resource to support your forward movement?
Look no further! CAFE Life has been telling the world about our exciting new product, Resilience In A Box, because it’s one of the most incredible tools to support you in your journey towards success. We have a whole section dedicated to motion, and I’ll tell you a little secret – I used a lot of practices and advice that we have available in there, for this blog.
If you want your own box, it’s as simple as heading over to our online store and joining the “movement of the box.”
