All About Momentum: The Art of Maintaining Momentum (3 of 4)

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:00:05

Welcome to blank pages, the podcast. A podcast for people who appreciate the new beginnings of a clean slate, but strive for the courage, willingness, curiosity, Lead in creativity BL only on the blank pages of new possibilities. The potential to move Beyond. Move forward P people are willing to make new decisions from a fresh perspective and are ready to write in a much better way. The world is waiting, and nothing listens better than a blank piece of paper. Well, hello, and welcome to the show. I'm your host, Tim Pecoraro, and I'm so glad you're with me here today as we continue on with this topic of Momentum. This is part 3 of 4 parts in this little series that I've titled all about momentum.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:01:00

And this week, we're gonna jump into that that challenge of maintaining momentum, how to actually do that. And so what we're gonna cover, we're gonna cover looking at, like, 3 focus areas, 3 critical areas that we're gonna focus on In order to maintain momentum, and then we're also going to use those 3 focus areas as a framework that you'll be able to use to create and build and maintain momentum in the various areas of your life. Right? So I believe we're gonna have opportunities to say, how do I, as an individual, put some some momentum to work in my life, and And then how do I do that in my relationships, and then how do I do that with working with others. Right? Those are 3 areas that I wanna help you with as it relates to that. So, before we go into that, I wanna say thank you for listening to the show, and those of you who have Subscribe to the show. Hey. Thank you so much. Those of you who've been in contact with me, sharing your thoughts and, information that you've been able to gather on your own and your life and hey.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:02:12

Thank you so much. It's so important that we help one another move along in life and help each other, get to new and better places This is in life. And, there's there's just there's nothing better than, like, actually having shared, experience or sharing experiences and having conversations around the things that, we learn in life. And so right off the bat, I just wanna say That in my own world, in my own life, in my story, in my relationship, with the momentum, my story and my struggle, it's it's around these 3 areas. And so as we get into it, I'm just gonna jump in, and I'll save some of the Housekeeping things for the very end, but what I wanna do I just wanna jump into this. I wanna get into that how to get this momentum once you build it up. Once you know the magic of momentum, then you build up the momentum, but now you gotta maintain the momentum. And It's it's important.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:03:13

Obviously, you if you don't maintain momentum, you're actually not gonna get to where you would like to go. You're gonna be limited, in in how far you can actually go. You're gonna be limited in actually getting to where you wanna go. Maybe doing it in a way that you, You know, it's kinda like, you know, if you have so much gas and you're trying to go somewhere, why would you just be burning up fuel to go any which way? Or For those of you who are electric car fans, you know, you want to be intentional about everything you do and where you go because you have only so much energy that you're gonna need to work with in order to get where you wanna go. So you have to do some planning, lots of things go around that. So what is my momentum story and struggle? Well, Let me tell you the first of 3 areas that when I think of momentum, I think of being either a momentum starter, a momentum builder, Or momentum keeper. I I think they're pretty self explanatory. So to be a momentum starter, momentum builder, or momentum keeper.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:04:11

Now some says, oh, I can do all 3 of those. Well, great if you can, but I don't think we could do all 3 at 100. Right? Now I'm one of those that I'm okay with that. I'm okay with understanding that I don't have to be the best at everything. Now the things that I'm good at, the things that I know I can do, I just wanna be world class at those things. That's my rule. I just wanna be world class. In other words, I wanna be in the conversation.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:04:37

Wanna be in the mix. I wanna be in the game. So it's not always easy dealing with momentum, And I found that it's once again, it's okay that I can't do it all, and it's okay if you are built and wired a certain way, And it could be in one of those key areas or 2 or I don't know, but it's okay. And you can develop the other attributes needed for momentum, But there's something beautiful that happens when you know yourself, and you know your wiring, and you're connected with people, where you have access to tools and people or resources that are gonna help you with the the gaps. We all have gaps. Right? There's all there's always in all of our lives, there are places where there are things that are missing. We have a gap. There's something that we need to fill in that blank with.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:05:35

And remember, like everything else in life, when you start, You build and maintain, right, for momentum, starting momentum, building and maintaining momentum. They're just all parts of a process of learning and growing

Speaker B [: 00:05:48

in this area of momentum and in life. So

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:05:53

it's a process, And allow yourself to take a deep breath and work with it. So today, we're gonna be exploring this this A crucial overlooked element in our journey to success, and that is the art of maintaining momentum. And it is an art form. It is something that you've got to get good at. It's aware you whether it's finding your flow. If you're a tennis player, When you find that flow and how to work that racket and you know what to do, you know how to play in you know, if it's a singles or a double, you know how to do it. I don't care what it is That there there's always an art to getting momentum in any of those, whether it's a sport or an activity, if it's relationships, It's it's it's it's still an art form to me. So whether it's pushing forward in your personal endeavor, it's nurturing a relationship, Collaborating with colleagues or striving for the victory as a team, momentum is the invisible force that keeps us moving towards our goals.

Speaker B [: 00:06:55

But how do we capture that force? And once we have it, how do we keep it from slipping through our fingers? I mean, I think that's a good question. It's a fair question. So what

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:07:07

I wanna do is I wanna break it down. Let's do it together. And what I wanna do, I just wanna talk about ges people. So the first thing is just if I were to say the the key areas, right, which we're gonna get into, These 3 key areas which are initial force, continued energy, and minimizing resistance. Now I'm gonna bring in one of my favorite topics, which is physics. Now and if you're a physics person, please, I I didn't say I was, you know, master class physics anything. I just love physics. I I enjoyed it.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:07:40

One of the ways as a wrestler when I wrestled, you know, physics helped me to be a better wrestler. My 1st car that I had to, actually with my stepfather at the time, I had to take the engine and the And the transmission, they were it was yoked to the engine block already and had to drop that in with a chain fall into the car, and it was Teen 76 Plymouth Duster. With it was a straight drive. Had a slant 6, I believe, or a straight six and you shifted off the column. And, man, I thought I was something, but I had to use physics in order to when I dropped the engine in and learning with my stepdad how to do it, I had to, obviously create leverage and all this stuff to get the, transmission up to be able to yoke it in. Anyways, it's a whole another story. But As an individual and this this whole thing around momentum, and you have these 3 key areas. As I said, we're gonna talk about them, these 3 crucial areas, initial force, continued, energy input, and minimizing resistance.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:08:46

So as an individual, how would that apply as an individual? So here's an example, or here's here's how that applies. Because it's all gonna start with a spark. Right? For individuals, this could be a moment of inspiration. It could be a concrete goal, a burst of motivation ges From Noah, just some there. Oh my gosh. I'm motivated. It's the initial push, and it's what gets us off the starting line towards the dream or the thing. It's that push that says go, but

Speaker B [: 00:09:17

capturing that spark and turning it into a flame requires more than just wishful thinking. You gotta have continued energy input, and that's where consistency is gonna be the key. It's all about putting in the work day after day even when

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:09:36

the novelty wears off of it. It means setting a routine. Yeah. A routine. Some people go, I can't do a routine. Well and that's, you know, that's okay if that's their world. If it works, awesome. But most P, in order to see incredible things or extraordinary things in their life, even if it's just in a relationship, You've got to get some things into the routine.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:09:58

You have to embrace self discipline and celebrate small victories In order to keep that momentum alive. And when we hit a plateau, it's our cue. That is the cue to reassess and adapt Our strategies, ensuring we're always moving forward even if it's ges, ready, an inch at a time. Progress is progress, and I would rather make little steps and and see that over time turn into big changes. And so as an individual, I have an initial force. Right? That spark. I need the continued energy input, Being consistent with that day after day. Right? New routines.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:10:41

But then here's the third one, minimizing resistance. Life's gonna throw curveballs. Life is gonna give you plenty of distractions. But to maintain momentum, we must become masters of our environment. This means identifying what is holding you back. If it's procrastination, if it's time mismanagement, or even your emotional hurdles In systematically removing these barriers, it's gonna be the key. You've got to do that. It's about creating now a path of least resistance where focus and productivity can flourish.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:11:27

Now do not hear me say avoiding. I didn't say avoiding. I said create a path of least resistance. Some people think that means, well, I'm gonna go with the path of least resistance. If that means I have to go talk to someone about this hard thing, I'm not gonna do it. So I'm gonna avoid it and look for the path of least resistance. Well, however however, you could do that, but if you choose to do that, you may not have the relationship you want in the long term. Right? So it's up to you.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:11:51

If you feel the relationship's disposable, that's on you. Right? So for me, most relationships should not be disposable. Okay. It should not be. No relationship should be disposable. So understand you're gonna have to Figure out what the resistance is and minimize it. So back to physics, and I wanna give you some universal truths about building and maintaining momentum in those 3 areas. I talked talked to you about those 3 areas for momentum is the initial force, The continued energy input and minimizing resistance.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:12:27

So I just told you how as an individual, how that plays out. But what happens when we take the universally recognized principles from physics and their applications or with those applications in individual endeavors, relationships, and work with others.

Speaker B [: 00:12:46

I mean, what would it look like?

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:12:47

So let's find that out because I believe this format will juxtapose the foundational principles of physics, which is and let me just ges ahead and say this. What is physics? Physics is the science that deals with matter, energy, motion, and force. That's it. It's the science that deals with matter, energy, motion, and force. So if we take these principles of physics, right, that deal with matter, energy, motion, and force with practical applications across various aspects of our life, Illustrating how these universal concepts can guide efforts to maintain momentum whether on a personal level, in relationships, or in a collaborative setting, I think we'd be we'd be cooking pretty good here. We're making a good meal for ourselves, something that's gonna help us do things better, Help us to grow, improve,

Speaker B [: 00:13:41

just I mean, you name it. I believe we have

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:13:44

to pay attention to it. So I like using Real things that people can grab ahold of, and they say, you know, how can you apply that? Because if you look into the world and life and you see nature, even their seasons to the trees. Right? And seasons Seasons to flowers and seasons to you know, as we're used to seasons, winter, spring, summer, and fall. Well, we, as people go through those same things, we can learn from that stuff. So now down to those 3. Right? The initial force. And I'm gonna give you the physics example first. So Physics example of initial force is an object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an external External force.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:14:23

In other words, something outside has to stop it, and that's known as Newton's first law of motion. And, you know, I mean, I tell people all the time. It's like, well, nothing's changing in my life, and I and I'm just like, well, if you're at rest, things stay at rest. Right? BL that's the thing. Right? If you're doing nothing here, and you're used to doing nothing, and you won't do anything, then you get an opportunity, and you show up, And you have that habit or that routine of doing nothing, then it's gonna stay like that. It's at rest, stays at rest. But if it's in motion and you are a person that's proactive, that's gonna be different. Right? So let's apply that.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:14:58

That's what we're gonna do to the individual. So if we look at initial force as an individual, that means take

Speaker B [: 00:15:04

the 1st step towards a personal goal. What does

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:15:08

that mean? Well, start, like, say, it's surround your health and wellness. Well, start a fitness regimen. If it's, I wanna get better at, I don't know. Like me, I'm into using fountain pens right now. I want to create more writings and things that are gonna be more pictorial, That they're gonna be learning lessons with an image that go along with it, so I'm using a lot of calligraphy pens and things. So guess what? I take I take the 1st step towards learning that new skill of using calligraphy pen or, a fountain pen with a nib or different sized nibs. It requires overcoming, though. The biggest part for the individual, in this initial forces is gonna require overcoming inertia Through a deliberate decision or action, you're gonna have to overcome it through a deliberate decision or action.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:15:59

What about in relationships? Well, that means it's initiating meaningful conversations, planning special dates, Or expression expressing feelings, those are those are ways to inject new energy and direction into a relationship, and then work with others. Well, an example of initial force could be launching a project with a kickoff meeting or

Speaker B [: 00:16:24

a brainstorming session to align goals and energize the team. Now That initial force

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:16:33

to me, remember I talked about momentum starters? That's the initial force. I'm I am so like, I love when I see people show up with ideas and they Put in that initial thing. They get it going, and they get things to start and to jump off. I think it's incredible when that happens. I think we need more of that. I think we need more of walking into the room with a team of people if it's a business, and instead of the person who's a leader walking in and say, Well, this is our challenge. This is what we've been tasked to do, and so here's what I wanna have done. And I'm gonna give this to you and this to you and this to you and this to you.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:17:05

And now what do

Speaker B [: 00:17:05

you guys wanna add to it? Right?

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:17:09

That's not the way to do it to get an initial force. You'll get 1, but it will it will immediately be met with When instead of that, when you launched it, the object in motion, right, it's gonna stay in motion until it's acted upon by an external force, and that external force is gonna be A resistance by way of people going, well, you already have it already figured out. What input can we

Speaker B [: 00:17:31

give? That's going to make it to where you can't Take those

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:17:36

next steps or you will, but people are just going to do the bidding of what was said. Now for me, I believe in more of a collaborative thing. So if you're gonna launch a Project, ges you gonna do something like this? The you you wanna come into the room and you wanna say, okay. This is our challenge.

Speaker B [: 00:17:51

This is what we're required to do. I have you guys in the room. You are here for

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:17:57

a reason. You're an important part of this team. How do you guys think we should go about this?

Speaker B [: 00:18:04

How does this work? What do you think we should do? Does this align with us? And to keep it

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:18:13

in alignment with us, what are the things that we have to make sure or ensure that are are done? What are those things that we have to make sure? What are the posts that we need and the pillars and the boundaries and All the things that we need to set as we get going. Give it to them, and let that session run with that initial force. But now let's go into the second thing, which you have the initial energy. Now it's the continued energy input. So here's the physics example. Energy conservation where energy is neither created nor destroyed, but transformed From one form to another necessitates ongoing input to sustain that motion. I mean, that's for me, that's pretty clear. So it's it's not created nor destroyed, but transformed from one form to another, And that's gonna necessitate ongoing input if you want that motion to continue.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:19:10

How would you apply that to individuals' relationships and work with others? Well, let's start with the individual. It's Consistently dedicating time and effort to practice and improve whether in personal development, hobbies, professional skills. It could be Sports skill. I mean, whatever it is, it's it's consistently dedicating time and effort to practice and improve. That is the continued energy input needed as an individual. Now what about relationships? Well, it's continuously investing in the relationship through you ready? Quality time, acts of kindness. How about open communication to nurture and deepen the bond of relationship, and then working with others. This if you wanna maintain momentum in team projects, That's gonna happen through you ready? Regular updates, supportive feedback, And then adapting strategies to overcome challenges, you're gonna have to work on those.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:20:20

And and and I think a lot of times, we just assume things are in a good spot. I I I'm one of those people that, You know, that you know, there's all the thing about assumptions or whatever, but assumption is basically like A parent of disappointment. It's over. When you assume, like, it's it's it's like the the The the mother or the father of of disappointment. It's it's you gotta be careful To not assume because you're going to have to you're gonna give birth, basically. You're gonna push out. You're gonna conceive, this this this this disappointment, I think. It's gonna be difficult for you When you're not communicating, when you're not updating, when you don't have feedback, and you don't adapt strategies to overcome challenges, It's gonna be a problem.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:21:17

That's why I say assumption is the mother of all disappointments. That's a a statement that I make is that you have to

Speaker B [: 00:21:24

be careful. You don't wanna do that. You don't want that to be a part of your life. And then the the the third thing is minimizing the resistance. So you have the Initial energy. You have the continued energy input, and then you have this part that's That's very important is minimizing resistance.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:21:47

So here's an example in physics. Reducing friction to allow for smoother and more efficient motion, such as using lubrication to decrease resistance between moving parts. Think of a car with an engine. So some of you who are familiar with the gas engine and, again, if you don't like gas engines, don't get mad at me. This is just part of what is real, and it's in the world, and it's still there. So the thing that I wanna do go over with you is you have these pistons, you have them in the engine, and those things go up and down. They're pumping. They're moving.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:22:20

They get hot. So as that engine gets moving, it builds up viscosity. And so if you get those pistons too hot, They can seize, and that's why you need lubrication. That's why there's oil in there. You need oil in the engine, And so it keeps it from seizing up, overheating, and locking down. So how do you put that or apply that to individuals. Well, you're gonna identify and remove distractions or negative habits that impede your progress, Creating a conducive environment for focus and productivity. Now this is pretty significant.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:23:00

So for me, when you when you're identifying removing these distractions or these negative habits that are stopping your progress, you have to understand that It's about you getting control of your environment. You have to be able to focus and be productive. You have to say, what are the things that are keeping me From being the productive person moving forward that I need to be, what do I need to identify and remove?

Speaker B [: 00:23:27

How about in

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:23:27

relationships? Well, you wanna address and resolve conflicts promptly, Setting boundaries and creating a supportive and understanding environment that's gonna facilitate ready? Easier emotional navigation. Now, again, I'm not looking for easy. I'm always I believe in Easy good, right, or hard best, I choose hard best. But when it comes to doing when you do relationships well, that's the kind of easy we're looking for. Meaning, because you do the hard best, it's going to make the emotional navigation

Speaker B [: 00:24:04

easier. So it still requires hard

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:24:14

with others, right, under this application, under minimizing resistance, is streamlining processes, improving communication channels, And resolving team conflicts quickly to enhance collaboration and reduce delays. I mean, what's so frustrating is when you see people with 20 unnecessary steps. It's could could be a control issue. I mean, I work with people all the time where it's almost like I feel like it's their job to make things as difficult as possible. And it's not because necessarily it has to BL. It's because it's just a way for them to maintain control or keep their idea in place, And we've gotta get better at that. I see companies with a lot of redundant things, not the proper redundancy. Meaning, it's okay to have a backup.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:25:07

So if if Bob's at work and Bob's sick and out, then Sally knows Bob's job very, very well. And even though Sally's over in another area, Sally can jump in and BL the redundancy needed to be able to back up what we need to have. Not the redundancy that's wasteful, But the stuff that's I have a redundant system. I have a backup system. I have something that I can fall back on.

Speaker B [: 00:25:32

Something wrong with that. But if you're just locking down, making things difficult, you make it You're not streamlining. You're not improving the communication. You're not working to resolve team conflicts quickly To get the the collaboration better, you're gonna you're gonna create a lot

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:25:52

of delays, and you're gonna break the trust of the team. So that is in a nutshell, the these are the key areas For me that I want you to, you know, to have in your mind or top of mind that you need to understand there's an initial energy, There's a continued energy input, and there's the minimizing of resistance in order for you to maintain the momentum that you want in your life. Now I'm gonna provide a, a list, and if you go to, Into my bio, on Instagram at Tim Pecoraro and click on the link, you will be able to, sign up for my newsletter, and if you do, I'm gonna have a resource sheet for you made available, that will come out to you, and it's the attributes. Right? I'm gonna give you attributes, of a person who understands the importance of momentum and prioritizes that And may to to prioritize as maintaining it to manifest their future. Alright? So these are gonna be qualities or attributes that I'm gonna that I'm gonna provide to you that you can use to help you in your journey. I'm only gonna give you a couple right now just to kinda give you an idea. What's an attribute of a person that that understands the importance of momentum and prioritizes it? Okay. They take initiative.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:27:21

They're proactive. They take initiative and are not afraid to make the 1st move. What else? Well, they're persistent people. They display a high level of perseverance, Continuing to push forward even when faced with setbacks or challenges because it's that persistence, hear me say this, That's gonna allow them to maintain momentum through the difficult times. And I'm gonna give you a third one. They're resilient people. This individual will bounce back from failures and setbacks. Resilience is gonna help them Or does help them in sustaining momentum by allowing them to learn from their mistakes and adapt strategies without losing drive.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:28:03

And you know what? Hey. Let me give

Speaker B [: 00:28:04

you 1 more. They're visionary.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:28:07

They have a clear vision of their future and set realistic goals aligned with that vision. And they're able to visualize the end result, and that's what's going to help them in maintaining focus and direction. So it's kinda like when you're riding And you're if you're a cyclist or whatever, you know, and I'm not

Speaker B [: 00:28:26

a cyclist. But, you know, you could look down

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:28:29

at the road the whole time, or you can look up and you can look Really, really far, and things can seem far, far away. But there's a distance between looking down at the ground and looking far, far, far away. There's somewhere in the middle kinda like driving a car where it's best to keep your eyes. Hopefully, that'll make sense to you. So simply put, These are qualities that are not only beneficial for personal growth and achieving individual goals, But they're also crucial BL leading others, in nurturing relationships, and driving collective efforts toward Shared objectives. I mean, it's important for us to understand the attributes, and I'll do a top a talk on those sometime down the road. But, You know, you have qualities of people, but then there's intangible qualities. Like, to me, a person that understands and embraces momentum and prioritizes that and those attributes, They are a person to me in my mind that comes with intangibles that are worth.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:29:33

If it's an if it's a hire that individual, it's worth spending more money to keep that person with you or have them on your team and employ them. If it's a teammate, it's worth training with them and working with them if it's in a sport Because of what they bring to the table, those intangible qualities that make them a great or an extraordinary teammate. So in closing, I wanna put this all together. What does momentum require? It requires, 1, an initial force, 2, continued energy.

Speaker B [: 00:30:08

3, minimizing resistance.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:30:14

So as we've explored this momentum, spanning these physical principles and practical applications and, the pivotal, attributes that enable individuals and groups to harness and sustain. I mean, it's a dynamic force. That's what they're getting. It's clear that understanding and prioritizing momentum is fundamental to transforming visions into reality. Whether you're going to embark on some personal endeavor or fostering meaningful relationships or Collaborate effectively with other people or driving a team towards a victory like I coach. I coach a soccer team right now, a new had a high school new team, and and and I'm working with them to move towards victory. These the principles of initial force, Continued energy input and minimizing resistance offer a universal blueprint for that progress. The qualities of proactivity, persistence, resilience, vision, Among others are I mean, they're paramount to me or hallmarks of those who not only dream of a brighter future, but They'll actively they're gonna shape it through what I I mean, I like to think of it as an artful maintenance of momentum.

Speaker B [: 00:31:32

I mean, there's art to it. And as as you move forward, I'm hoping that you'll embody some

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:31:40

of these attributes. I hope that you'll apply timeless the timeless wisdom of of momentum to navigate your life complexities. In work or relationships, turning your aspirations into achievements with, like, a very determined and purposeful Step in that direction. So I'd like to thank you for listening, And I I'm I'm really looking forward to that next episode that we have that will wrap up this whole talk on momentum, and I'm gonna talk to you about the types or specific types of forces that are working with or against our momentum. So take some time. I hope you listen to this again. I hope you listen to the all of these, in this series Because without momentum, you're not going to move. Remember, an object at rest stays in rest at rest.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:32:38

An object in motion remains in motion. How about this? A life at rest stays at rest. A life in motion will remain in main in motion. Obviously, until some external first force comes against it, but that's why You have to have those attributes and qualities to deal with those challenges. So take some time, reflect, think about it. Remember, nothing listens better than a blank piece of paper? Sit down with your thoughts. Write them down. I encourage you to share your momentum Challenge with someone else.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:33:14

Share with me. If you would send me a message, what is the initial force for you in the thing that you're trying to do what is the continued energy, and then also what are you doing to minimize that resistance? So until next time, talk soon