Ok, so let’s assume you’re an ambitious person, you have dreams, a vision of your ideal life and even goals. You have it all figured out, you know where you want to be but for some reason you’re stuck.
What’s going wrong?
In a nutshell, gaining momentum has to do with two things;
1. Initiative
And
2. Persistence
Taking initiative when you’re stuck and being persistence in the face of challenges are the ingredients required to gain massive momentum in the direction of your goals, dreams and desires.
I discovered this powerful combination whilst waiting at the International airport in Singapore. I had just published my first book The Art of Negotiation and filled with emotion, enthusiasm and hope I walked into a large multinational bookstore in Changi Airport whilst waiting for my flight and life has never been the same again.
I had stumbled across what I like to call Dead Time. I was waiting to for a flight to Hong Kong for business when I remembered I had packed a copy of my new shiny book in my hand luggage. Upon having this thought, I decided to give myself a little challenge. I gave myself 30 minutes to get this major bookstore to carry my new title in their stores.
This is a big feat considering I was not a well known author at this point, I didn’t have millions of copies flying off the shelves, all I had was a copy of my book and time on my hands.
I strode into the store, stood in the queue at the counter and proceed to make my pitch as to why they should put my book in their stores. The first store sent me to another store to see the manager on the other side of the terminal. Unperturbed I marched on, I found the other store and did the same thing again, found the manager and made my pitch. I left a copy of the book with the manager and asked her to pass it on to the book buyer, then I flew off to Hong Kong hoping that this challenge I had set myself would come to fruition.
***
A few weeks, and a lot of emails and calls later and miraculously it happened, they liked the books we did a deal for them to carry them their stores.
The BIG lesson I discovered in this story was the ability to transform “ Dead Time” into “Action Time”
So what is Dead Time?
Dead Time is anytime you are waiting, this could be for a person, a train, a plane, a boat, a bus, doctor, dentist, an appointment, a movie to start or stuck in traffic. It is when you would normally be reaching for your phone, scrolling through social media to distract you from the monotony of waiting or watching Netflix or checking email. This is Dead Time.
However, to gain momentum for your business, your side hustle, your goals and dreams you must raise the bar and transform Dead Time into Action Time.
Action Time must become your best friend. Using Action Time to make that very important call to a potential new client, or pitch your idea to an investor, or email that radio station asking to be a guest on their show, or write that book, record that podcast.
The key is getting out of Dead Time and into Action Time. When you notice yourself reaching for your phone, try to get into the habit of questioning whether this is the best use of your time. What could you be doing right now, using what is around you to propel your business/side hustle/life forwards.
It’s a simple equation, Dead Time equals Action Time
The next stage of Action Time to really gain momentum so that you are constantly hits goals is first you need to have enough balls (opportunities) in the air.
By this I mean you need to taking action when ever you have Dead Time and get into the habit of thinking creatively about what you can do to move forward.
The way to start doing this is to follow you intuition, if an interesting thought or fun idea comes into your head about how you could promote your business in a new way, put it into motion and act on it.
First things first, write it down. Next pick up the phone and figure out how to go about making it happen. Maybe you see an article that inspires you and decide to write to the editor and ask questions about how they got to write for this publication?
Or perhaps you see that you’re favourite mentor is coming to town for an intimate speaking session so you book your tickets right then and there. No thinking about “what if’s” this is all about making it happen and the more you get used to taking inspired action in this way, the more it will become your go to habit for life. In turn more opportunities will be drawn to you, you will spot new ways to make things happen and connect the dots in ways you never thought possible before.
Your intuition is constantly guiding you to the next right action. Make sure you put that wisdom to good use by following it, trusting it and taking aligned action.
The more you get used to taking action and asking the question “what can I do next to help me achieve X,Y,Z? The more opportunities come your way in abundance.
This is where initiative and persistence come into their own. You will flourish and become an inspired action taking machine.
Opportunities will flow towards you and because you have this new way of thinking, this open, motivated and creative mindset, you’ll be ready for them!
This is your time to shine!
