It’s the last Sunday in summer, and consequently, it’s the dawn of a new academic session. For me, this means a lot of things. For starters, even though I’m maintaining my city of residence, I’ll be moving to a new environment, resuming at a new school, and studying with a new set of classmates.
I’m not really a fan of massive changes, but I’m thrilled about this particular development. It’s generally a new season for me, and a change of environment seems very much in order. Of course, it comes with the uncomfortable task of readapting to new systems, but I guess that’s the price to pay in exchange for getting a fresh start.
New Season, New Energy
At the start of the month, I did mention that I was having a hard time getting things done, and my productivity seemed to be dipping at the time. Well, things took quite an interesting turn as the month progressed.
At the time, I was preparing for my trip to another city where I would remain for another two weeks, and that trip turned out to be the missing piece I was lacking. I described my experiences in this blogpost entry from a couple of weeks back.
Apparently, all the high-end stress that was final year coupled with other responsibilities had put me on a constant grind, so much so that I lost all the enthusiasm to work on anything. It was subtle, but over time, everything gradually became stale.
Turned out I really needed the escape. Aside from the fact that it was so much fun, it came with a breath of fresh air. On returning home, there was a new surge of energy to face pending tasks I had put off before. It is safe to say that in just two weeks since my return, I have been more productive than I was in the last couple of months before my trip. With each task I check off the list, I am more energized to jump on the next one. There’s a build-up of momentum with each output, and it is exciting to see.
The Law of Big Mo
“The Law of Big Mo” is the 16th law in John Maxwell’s bestselling book, “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership”. And even though the book was mainly written in the context of leading other people, I find many of the laws therein to be very applicable to personal leadership. After all, only a person who has sufficiently led himself can efficiently lead others.
The Law of Big Mo is all about gaining and keeping momentum, and as you may or may not know, “Mo” there stands for “Momentum”. The law of inertia teaches us that much less force is required to keep a body moving than is necessary to get a static body to move. Also, a moving body has a higher “acceleration quotient” than a body at rest when both are exposed to the same force.
In the past two weeks, I have managed to garner some momentum, striking off one task after another. Interestingly, the completion of one productive activity supplies even more energy for the next one. It’s a progressively positive cycle, and I’m looking to keep the wheels turning for as long as I can.
The first steps at anything — getting out of a rut, building a habit, working on a project, whatever it is— are always the hardest. But once in motion, it’s easier to keep moving and even accelerate on the task(s) at hand. It is generally easier to steer a body that is already in motion than to get it started. Another peculiarity about a body in motion is that, with enough momentum, it can easily overcome any obstacle on its way. A train at full speed will plough through anything placed before it with ease.
Attacking Third
In the game of football, there’s a term referred to as “Attacking Third”. This is the section of the football pitch where one team is closest to the opponent’s goal with the best opportunities to score. Statistically, most goals are scored from this region. The setup may have been created from other parts of the pitch, but the scoring strike is often from this part of the pitch.
We’re approaching the final third of the year (I guess you already know where this is heading). Many of us have been working on achieving the goals we set for the year. Some of these goals have come to fruition, some are ongoing, and some are still in the pipeline. And if you’re anything like me, some of your set goals are still at point zero.
Regardless of the current status of your set goals, the final third is an opportunity to get those goals under your belt. For those goals already in motion, make big Mo your friend and let it drive you until they are achieved. If you’re yet to kick off on some of them, with enough focus and intensity, there’s still a chance to hit them in the next four months. If your goals happen to be too large to pull off before the end of the year, at least you’ve got ample time to get things started. Half bread, they say, is better than none.
And if for whatever reason, you’ve been plagued by situations that put you on the defence all year long, there’s still enough time for a counter-attack. Comeback wins are sometimes the sweetest. Get your wheels rolling, gain enough momentum and get those goals.