Momentum NOT Motivation

Advice for dancers

Motivation is often seen as a key factor in success. People talk about what motivates me, how to gain motivation, how to stay motivated. We have motivational posters and quotes on the wall. We carry reminders in momentos or memories that give us that emotional push to keep going. 

Motivation is great when you get that pep talk, it gives you an extra push to make it through. I’m just thinking of all the movie sequences that highlight this moment right in the climax of the film at the football game or school play or competition of some kind. 

But motivation can be fleeting. 

I see it like a speed powerup in a racing video game. It gives you that extra boost to make the jump or pass up your competitor, but it goes away eventually. 

What I’ve found to be more effective in the long run is momentum. I don’t know if there are any scientific findings that say Newton’s Laws of Physics pertain to human emotion, but I don’t think it’s too far fetched. And from physics we know that an object in motion stays in motion, unless acted on by an outside force and an object at rest stays in rest, unless acted on by an outside force. 

If you wake up and start off by checking your phone, you are starting your momentum down that path. Once you’ve started down that path, it’s more difficult to change direction. If you start the day on your phone, you will most likely continue to check your phone constantly throughout the day. 

If you start the day out by reading a book, odds are that you think of that book or the concepts in that book more throughout the day. You might even get caught up in the current and continue to read the book throughout the day. 

If you start off the day working on a research paper, you might realize that you’ve been working on it for hours without even realizing. 

Speaking from personal experience, I started going to dance class regularly for a week. Every night I got myself to go to class, I continued to go almost every night for months. But then life happened and I stopped going to class. Once I was out of my momentum, it was incredibly difficult to start going again. And here is the kicker, I wanted to go. But I thought of all the things I have to do, how long the drive is, how expensive the classes are, how my body is sore from rehearsal. It took a power up of motivation to get me back into class, but once I was “back in motion” I didn’t need motivation. 

I encourage you to stay in momentum and keep going. You’re headed towards great things.