The Power of Momentum

“We all deal with setbacks but in the long run, the quality of our lives depends on the quality of our habits. With the same habits, you’ll end up with the same results. But with better habits, anything is possible.”

— James Clear

Our life changes the day we decided we have had enough.

We have had enough of the same way of living; of mindlessly watching shows or movies, some that may not even interest us that much. We have had enough of the brain rot doomscroll. We find ourselves looking up things that don’t advance your life, like Googling “what does skibidi toilet mean”?

You can’t help but think there is more to life than THIS…whatever THIS is.

You inevitably start to reflect and come to terms with the fact that you have been on autopilot for quite some time now. You realize you have made excuses instead of making effort towards better habits.

For me, my biggest excuse is my daughter.

Mom is too tired, so she can’t do that. Mom has been cooking all day, so she should veg out and watch a movie. She deserves to relax, she deserves to shut her brain off. She deserves to be lazy after working all day.

And all of a sudden, this becomes your life.

The truth is, my daughter should be my greatest motivator.

Every day, I try to be the best mom possible for her, to keep her out of harm’s way while also giving her the space to make her own mistakes. Parenthood is a delicate balancing act of holding on and letting go, and in the space of over a year I am guilty of forgetting myself.

Creating life, birthing it, and raising a child is a full-time job. The result could be an overly tired, over-stimulated parent who just wants to relax at the end of the day. And who can blame them?

However, just like in parenthood, it is important to remember that life is a balancing act of holding on and letting go.

We create these habits for ourselves, good or bad, and they eventually become a part of our identity. We start to tell ourselves stories of why this is possible or why we couldn’t possibly do that.

But what is stopping you besides yourself?

One day, we just become sick of the reality we have created for ourselves and start to think, “isn’t there more to life than this?”

Recently, I have started getting back into exercise after a 2-month hiatus and I have realized that good habits compile, much as bad habits do.

After moving my body, it made me realize just how good taking care of myself felt. Because of this, it made me wonder what else I could optimize.

I started reading again, which is when I finally picked up Atomic Habits by James Clear, a book I have been having my eye on for a long time but kept saying I “never had time to read”, even though I would spend so much time doomscrolling on my phone.

After reading, this has led me to writing the article you have stumbled upon now.

I am proof that the power of momentum works.

Time and time again, I have found myself getting into motivation ruts, sometimes after times of heavy motivational exertion, to the point that I may have overdone it.

The best way to maintain habits is not to go all out when motivation sets in, but to go at your own pace. This could start slow and build up over time, or it could just be at consistently the same pace. Either way, consistency is key.

Every day is not going to feel optimal, but what matters is that you show up anyway.

Whether it is for you or for your loved ones, you get closer to reaching your goals by remembering to also care for yourself.

The power of momentum is a very powerful thing if we keep harnessing that energy. We may not always feel that same jolt of motivation as the first day you started these better habits, but it is important to remember why you started this in the first place, and to remember to show up consistently.