The Mechanics of Momentum
Laws of motion when starting something new
Starting something – whether it’s a company or a new exercise habit – is like pushing a boulder up and over a hill.
If you apply enough force, the boulder will start moving. When it reaches the highest point, gravity will take over. Then you won’t have to push so hard anymore.
If you don’t push hard enough at the beginning, the boulder won’t move (in physics, this is called inertia).
Crucially, it won’t matter that you push almost hard enough – you can do that for eternity and nothing will happen. Without a big enough concentrated force, the boulder will never gain momentum.
And here’s the thing: ‘almost hard enough’ still requires lots of effort!
If you get caught in this trap, you can end up grinding for years with little results, like so many others.
This is symptomatic of one of the most common mistakes that holds us back: we underestimate the force required to get the boulder rolling.
So, we take on too many projects at once. We hedge our bets and spread ourselves too thin. As a result, we’re left without enough focus or conviction to direct the necessary force toward the one thing.
This not only prevents you from gaining momentum, but working almost hard enough on multiple things is the definition of exhausting.
Eventually, you will burn out…
“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing”
– Kevin Kelly
Mass x Speed x Direction
The best creators and entrepreneurs are good at anticipating the exact mass of their boulder and what direction they need to push it. Therefore they can gather resources and make the decisions required to create the appropriate, concentrated force.
Perhaps most importantly, it allows them not to second-guess what they are doing, even if nothing is seemingly happening at first.
They also know that the bigger the thing you’re trying to accomplish, the more force you will have to apply before you see any momentum.
Think of Sam Altman and the guys at Open AI. They knew it would take years before they would even ship a product. Had they gone into it thinking they’d launch within a year and become millionaires, they would have undoubtedly given up (granted, Altman already was a multi-millionaire when they started).
A Trick For Creating Momentum
If you’re struggling to build momentum, here’s a trick you can try:
The next time you start something, think long and hard about what it will realistically take to succeed. Then give yourself a set amount of time (usually 3–6 months) during which you are not allowed to question yourself or give up (H/T Justin Mares).
This removes the option of saying “This is too hard, I’m going to resort back to my comfortable identity and call it a failure”.
Since you can’t quit, you have to look for other options when you run into a hurdle.
What can you do?
There is always something…
Whatever boulder you choose, know that it won’t start moving without enough concentrated force behind it.
The next time you start something, expect a massive amount of force to go into it before you see any momentum at all. It’s better to attack it with too much force than too little.
Then, once you start to see momentum, it gets much easier to keep pushing…
And remember: everything big starts small.
Ps. Please let me know what you think of these shorter, more off-the-cuff pieces as opposed to my longer, more thought-out essays that take a long time to write, like the last one.
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Great points