All About Momentum: The Magic of Momentum (1 of 4)

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:00:05

Well, hello, and welcome to this week's episode of blank pages, the podcast. I'm your host, Tim Pecoraro, and I'm so glad you are joining me here today as we jump into today's topic. That's a kickoff to a series. So for the next 4 weeks, it's gonna be all about momentum. I think this is a great pairing as we kicked off the year with, getting off into 1 word, and then we've been dealing with belief. Right? Getting into helping ourselves in our belief, our our unbelief, and and getting getting more of a hypothesis for belief and changing some of these negative of ways of doing things. And and then we went through the core human needs. Right? Just we're trying to go somewhere.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:00:48

We want an ambitious future. We need to believe for it. Like, and we have this word, like, all this stuff. Right? But now what do we need? We need to be able to, like, put it to work. Right? So this is all of. So this is episode 8. It is gonna be the first of 4 episodes that we'll do delving into this topic that I feel very relevant, but it can be very complex too. So I've learned to come in, to come to believe and embrace this topic.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:01:17

Momentum can be one of the best friends, a leader, or a person who takes seriously the responsibility to be a better human being, how to make better decisions and build and maintain momentum to carry them forward. This is this is the thing right here. Right? I wanna talk about all the magic that's in momentum. So that's what it is. So today, this 1st week that we're gonna be covering, it's the the the magic in momentum. Right. So before we get into it, I wanna thank you for listening to the show. And if you haven't yet, please subscribe to the show and sign up for the monthly email.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:01:55

You can do that by if you're on Instagram, pop in and go to my bio link at Tim Pecoraro. That's at tim, p as in Paul, e c o r a r o. And there's a link in there. You can subscribe to the podcast and get on the newsletter. The newsletter is going to be, I believe, a great way for us just to update, communicate, to to take all of what's happened the prior weeks. We'll give you a summary of all of that, you know, calling out some of the highlights, key takeaways. And then also, there'll be something just for me to just share with you about the things that are up and coming and what our next series is. And so as you're listening to this, this is coming on the tail end of something.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:02:36

So in February, in a couple weeks, you'll get a email newsletter if you signed up for it that, obviously, we'll talk about what I'm talking about now, that we are of moving into this momentum. I really wanna help you get to where you wanna get to this year. So, again, thank you so much for listening. Of now. Momentum. This thing momentum. I I need to chill out. I'm a take me a little sip here.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:03:01

Oh, and by the way, I'm using, and those of you, if you are an audio type person, I love, I'm old school. I like analog stuff and things like that, but I do I'm using a new mic. I I was into Heil, microphones and, the P r thirties. I like the Sony broadcast mics, everyone's. BL, man, I've really fallen in fallen in love with the RODE Broadcaster mic. So, let me take a little sip here, and then, just let's let's get into why is this so important. So in essence, Momentum acts like a catalyst. Right? So it's a catalyst for growth, achievement, in resilience across all areas of our life.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:03:48

This is why it's important. It's not just about the speed of progress, but it's also about the quality and direction of the movement. It's it's all about ensuring that efforts are not only sustained, but they're also aligned with something you hear me talk a lot about, core values and objectives. So momentum is crucial for individuals, businesses, organizations, families, and communities for just several compelling reasons, but especially when it comes to reaching and achieving goals. So we have many reasons for that, but I wanna kinda point out for each of this. Before we get going, why does this matter? I'm gonna take you as the individual, the business that you may run or you're in, organizations, nonprofits, NGOs, whatever it is you do, your family and communities. Okay? And so here's why momentum holds such importance across these of different spheres. So here we go.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:04:45

For individuals, think about personal growth. Okay. On an individual level, momentum helps individuals overcome stagnation, and it for fosters personal development, NK encouraging the acquisition of new skills and the pursuit of new experiences. I mean, that's pretty that's Pretty Big. I mean, I don't know if you've ever felt stagnant before. I don't know if, you you know, you felt an encouragement to, like, acquire new skills, of, or maybe maybe you felt like you you wanted it, but you just didn't have the oomph behind it. Right? So also for an individual, there's the achievement of goals. Of firm.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:05:24

It transforms man, tongue twister here. It transforms the aspirations into tangible results, making it easier to navigate obstacles and maintain focus on a long term objective. So that's a good thing for an individual. What about a business or for an organization? Well, momentum can be a competitive advantage. In the fast paced business world. Momentum can be the difference between staying ahead of the competition or falling behind. It drives innovation, efficiency, and adaptability. It's a pretty big deal.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:06:00

I definitely want to stay ahead, and I do not wanna fall behind. I wanna be driven. I don't wanna have to be encouraged to try to catch up. And then for businesses and organizations, there's a inefficiency in the way they operate. Momentum will ensure that that, ensures that projects or or initiatives or the efforts that you're trying to do, they move forward, but you ready? Smoothly, of reducing the likelihood of your projects stalling out or or resources being wasted. Now here's where you get into the families. What would momentum do in a family? Well, here's an example. It can strengthen bonds.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:06:40

Shared goals and the collective effort to achieve them can strengthen familial bonds, fostering sense of unity, of in mutual support. I gotta say that one again. When you when you have momentum in your family, it'll strengthen your bonds. How? By sharing or having shared goals and the collective effort to achieve them, and that's gonna strengthen the bond. It's gonna foster a sense of unity and mutual support. And then for families, it's modeling behavior. Parents and caregivers who demonstrate how to build and maintain momentum, they set a positive example for their younger family members, of teaching valuable life skills by doing so. Now let's get into the communities.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:07:25

K? There's a collective impact. Momentum will have this this I don't know. It's just this it's this magic to me. I just call it the magic. Right? Of within a community that can lead to significant achievements. It just brings in. It's a difference maker, such as the development of local infrastructure, support community members in need in the creation of cultural and recreational initiatives. Those are game changers for me, BL you need momentum to do it.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:07:55

And then there's, for communities resilience and adaptability. Communities with momentum are better equipped to face challenges, of whether economic downturns, natural disasters, or social issues adapting more of readily you know, for that change. Like, they they can adjust, and they're readily able. They're they're just there, ready to adapt. They have the resilience, but they're adaptable. So let's let's cut through it. Let's do some cross cutting through here. Let's I kinda give you some reasons.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:08:26

Right? So it builds confidence and optimism. Just cross cutting through this. So success breeds success. Right? As momentum builds, so does confidence in individual and collective abilities to achieve goals, fostering an optimistic outlook toward future endeavors. Another thing it does is it it facilitates continuous improvement. Momentum encourages a mindset of continual assessment and an adaptation of leading to ongoing improvements in your strategies, your processes, and your outcomes. What else does it do? Well, it encourages engagement and participation. When people see progress, they are more likely to engage and contribute whether in the context of a project, a business, or community initiatives.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:09:15

So I like that. I like I I like to say that excellence said, for me, momentum can help you with your excellence. And when excellence to me, it honors God, who I believe is is my creator, our creator, and it inspires people because you focus on when you create, you want it to with looking around us, there's so much excellence around us and the things that I believe God's created. We wanna do that because it's very inspiring. I see beautiful landscapes and things, and and as an artist, I wanna draw a picture, or I wanna paint, or, you you know, I wanna write a story or something. Like, it's inspiring. And then here's the other thing. A cross cutting reason for momentum the magic it has is it mitigates the fear of failure.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:10:01

That's pretty big. Momentum creates a dynamic where the fear of failure is lessened by the accumulation of successes, NK, risk taking, and innovation. That's pretty good. I like those. So we just went through this the impact, the magic. Why is it important for for the individual level, for business and organizations, and how how you ges into for your family, for communities, and the crosscutting reasons. And I will have all these in the show notes for you. But let's get to the thick of things.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:10:36

Now that I'm telling you why I'm so excited about momentum, why do I see it matters? I just gave you a good list, but now let me help bring this into you. I want you to now work towards sitting there and saying to yourself, of I want to learn more about this momentum. I wanna get more of it, or I wanna maintain more of it. I wanna build it. I wanna do it. I wanna protect it. Whatever it is, let's get you to where you fall in love with momentum. At least, hopefully, you will, and and momentum is awesome.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:11:07

Okay? So Here's the momentum dilemma, and I'm gonna give you here's another fictitious story I like making these. This is the story of Taylor. So I put these stories together just to prove a point. So in the heart of a little town, little medium sized place, kind of like where I'm at in Greenville County here, of, in amidst a community that is blooming with opportunity and growth. Greenville is growing. So live this live Taylor, let's just say, a person who whose life seemed paradoxically, like, stagnant. But while the town around Taylor just seems to be thriving, expanding with new businesses flourish. The art is just flourishing, and there's a vibrant social scene.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:11:53

Taylor's existence feels like a still frame in a rapidly advancing film. Don't want that. But today's days melded into of one another. A job that felt increasingly disconnected from the town's growth, relationships that seemed, like, shallow amidst the deepening community bonds, in personal aspirations that that have faded into the background. And the concept of momentum so visibly embodied by the town's progress was an elusive specter to Taylor, a reminder of what they lacked. So 1 evening as Taylor walked through the bustling town square, the contrast between inner stagnation and the the town's dynamic energy sharpened into painful clarity. It was a chance NK encounter with an old friend now thriving as a local entrepreneur. It sparked a deep seated envy and a cascade of self reflection.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:12:53

Why was Taylor seemingly the only one left behind in a town that seemingly is surging forward? Driven by a mix of desperation and newfound spark of hope, Taylor embarked on a personal quest to capture the elusive momentum. The initial steps were laden with challenges, old habits of procrastination, and self doubt clung tightly, and every small setback felt like a monumental failure. And the more Taylor sought momentum, the more it seemed to slip through Taylor's fingers, of, like, trying to grasp a shadow. It's just not gonna happen. The quest for momentum brought Taylor face to face with uncomfortable truths about fear, of failure in the comfort that that was, like, inertia. Conversations with others revealed a myriad of perspectives on gaining and maintaining momentum. Yet the more Taylor learned, the more complex entangled the path seemed. The questions multiplied.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:13:52

What true benefits does momentum bring? How does one ignite it from within? And once kindled, how is it nurtured to withstand the test of time and adversity and whatever may come against it. Right? So as Taylor stands at the edge of breakthrough or a breakdown. The town's growth serving as both inspiration and a mirror to Taylor's stagnation. The tension between desire and action, between aspiration and reality reaches a crescendo. The story leaves Taylor at a crucial juncture. Of Taylor's heart brimming with questions that demanded answers, yet the path to momentum remains shrouded in the midst, like, of of of doubt and fear. This unresolved narrative invites reflection. It should get you to wanna say, what's the nature of momentum in the face of personal and community growth? I want this to challenge you to consider your journey through a landscape such as ges, a landscape of change of as it relates to being contrary or against stagnation.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:15:10

You're looking for change, which would be required to get momentum or go back to stagnation. So to me, this little story is helping to point out a couple of key takeaways. So I like to use a a simple model like who we're talking about, what is your struggle, and what are the questions that need to be answered. And that's what we're gonna look at really quick, and then we're going to kinda bundle this up where I can just give you some truths about momentum and why we're gonna spend the next 3 weeks after this, the next 3 podcast that is covering this information and hopefully helping you get the momentum you need in your life. So, Taylor, this is the person. Taylor, the context of this story is Taylor lives in a medium sized city that's rapidly growing. Right? But there's a personal stagnation to Taylor. Taylor feels stuck and disconnected despite the community's growth.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:16:06

And if you contrast that with the surrounding environment, Taylor's stagnation is stark against the backdrop of a throb thriving town. Have you ever done that? Have you taken your own life and put it up against the background the backdrop of everything else? And sometimes it's like, oh my gosh. What a big contrast. So instead of freaking out and disappearing, what we ought to do is say, let's look at it, and what is the difference? Right? So there's a desire for change in Taylor. Taylor deeply wishes to break free from stagn step from the stagnation and then find this momentum. But there's the struggle. There's the internal conflict. Taylor battles with procrastination maybe.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:16:48

Let's say self doubt and and even fear of failure. How about the external contrast? Taylor faces the tension between of the their own lack of progress and the town's dynamic advancement. Right? Look at that struggle. That's the tension. Lack of progress, of town town's dynamic advancement. That's a tough one. But then the efforts to change takes initial steps towards personal growth, but NK significant resistance. That's what's happening in the story.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:17:20

And then there's the emotional turmoil and the struggle here. Experience is envy, frustration and a sense of isolation in the midst of the community success. That's not strange. It's not unusual. That's a lot of people's story. And then we were left with the main questions to be answered. What are the benefits of momentum? How does one build momentum from a standstill? And then how is momentum maintained amidst challenges and setbacks? Right? So the first question, what does it what does it want? So when you that's that first question that needs to be answered, what are the benefits of momentum? Well, it seeks to understand the deeper value and transformative potential of gaining momentum. And then that leads to the 2nd question.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:18:05

How does one build momentum from a standstill? Well, that question wonders about the initial steps and strategies for overcoming the inertia and sparking progress. And then that leads to the 3rd big question. How is momentum maintained amidst challenges and setbacks? Of questions this question's the methods, right, for sustaining momentum over time, especially when faced with obstacles and failures. So we're not gonna answer all those questions right now. We're gonna do that over the next over this series, over the next few episodes, several episodes. But what I wanna do is I really want to get you to understand there is you are a character in your story. You do have struggles. You have an internal conflict.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:18:47

You have an external contrast. You have efforts to change, and there's emotional turmoil that are all part of your struggle. You, the character, the protagonist in your own story, not a character in someone else's. There's location and context to your life. There's your own where you sense or feel personal stagnation. There's the contrast between your life and your environment, and then you have a desire at whatever level that might be, of a desire for change. But that's on you. You gotta work on that.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:19:20

So what I wanna walk you through to close this out, I just wanna give you once again, I wanna set the the the the the stage and the table for what's coming next, and I want you to understand, this is so important. Nothing is gonna move without momentum. You need momentum. You need traction, and you need momentum. Traction will get you momentum. So I wanna give you 4 things, and this is how we're gonna wrap up. These are some of the secret things, the secret soft Sauce, the magic that's in the momentum we're gonna be talking about. And as I said earlier, when when I started off this episode, that we're going to cover today, it's all about the magic of momentum.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:19:59

Right? It's all about momentum. The next 1 is gonna be building the momentum, then we're gonna get into maintaining momentum, and then we're gonna talk about the forces, okay, around momentum. So here's what here's some truths, some things about momentum. Momentum number 1 is it's a great exaggerator. So what does that mean? Exaggerate. Now so it makes things look good. Right? It makes people look good. It makes you look good.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:20:24

When a team has momentum, when a team has it, when an individual have it has it, it it's it's it's hobbyist. It's right before your eyes when the team has momentum. If you're watching sports you know, recently, we're just watching the NFL, and we're in the playoff season, and you can tell when a team has momentum. You can tell if you watch soccer or or, you know, football. Right? If you're watching that, of then you know when a team has momentum. When you play when it's baseball, it's momentum. If it's swimming, there's momentum. It doesn't matter.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:20:53

There's momentum. You could see momentum in public speaker. You can see momentum in a in an artist, in a band. There's momentum, and you can see when people have it. Equally so, you can tell when they don't. So the truth about momentum is it's a great exaggerator. People see when you have it, and they also see when you don't. What else about it? Well, momentum is like a magnifying glass.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:21:16

It makes things appear bigger and larger than life. When you have it, your success is exaggerated. It looks better than it than it may even be. I know a lot of people that, you know, they got momentum, some things are happening, but a lot of people are like, woah. And you might be just sitting there breathing like, wow. We're just now breaking even. But the momentum makes it look bigger, and I'll get into why that's important than in other episodes a little today, but more in later episodes. And then in this great exaggerator, another part of it.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:21:45

So when you have it, it's obvious. When you don't have it, it's obvious. It's like a magnifying glass. It makes things bigger. When you have success, it's exaggerated. And when when listen. And when you don't worry about momentum, it's be and you don't worry about, like, small problems, it's because of that momentum. When you're not looking at it, you feel it.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:22:08

You're not getting tripped up on little things anymore. Things that are just they're just distractions. And when because of that and you get that momentum going, doesn't mean you're ignoring them. It's just you're dealing with things different. You found a pace. You found a flow. And what's cool is most bigger things seem to work themselves out. That's what I found out about that great exaggeration of momentum.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:22:33

The next part is it makes you look better. It changes everyone's perspective of you as a leader. It may not it it may not seem like it, but I'm gonna tell you right now, people will tend to not be as upset over small failures that a leader makes or an individual makes because when they're all in and they're committed to making momentum a necessary part of their life, okay, people notice they're not hung up and obsessed and of on areas where they're failing. They're not running and retreating when they drop the ball. They know that they have momentum, and what they're gonna do is gonna make them look better Because They're Going TO Have Energy and A Desire TO Proactively Solve That Problem Without Getting Unnecessarily Duckin' It. Now that's a big opinion of mine. Okay? Huge. But I believe it makes you look better.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:23:23

The third one is it helps followers perform better. So even average teams or people can perform far above average in an organization or with people, a family, whatever it is that you're part of that has great momentum. So I know a lot, especially in sports when and I've done it because I coach teams in sports. And I could have a team that has far more talent and they have better individual players. But then we come up a against a team that are doing small things very, very well. They don't have any real superstar, but they work so well together that they learn to build their momentum. And because of that, they take their average play, and it becomes so much better because remember, momentum is a great exaggerator, and that momentum is very difficult to stop. And in a sport like soccer, you have to try to get the ball out of bounds.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:24:14

You have to do something to try to break a team's momentum when they're all in. And then it helps for, followers perform better because they become effective in their own hopes and expectations as well. So when someone's following and you and they're following someone with momentum, man, their hopes and expectations rise too because what is that old statement, right, that it's or that old quote is that a rising tide, you know, lifts all ships or all boats. Doesn't matter the size. It's gonna get lifted the same height. Of I want you to think really quick about a team performing better. If you were to look up the miracle on ice in 1980, the US Olympic hockey team beat the Russians. That wasn't supposed to happen.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:24:57

I'd encourage you to go. I'll try to put a remember to put a link in the show notes, but that was not supposed to happen. And I see it all the time. I see people who should not have won, should not have that breakthrough, should not be the one to come in first, or should not be the one to overcome, and they do. Why? Because they have momentum on their side. And then the 4th thing and the most for me, it's the momentum is most powerful or one of the most powerful change agents. When you're given enough momentum or given enough momentum, it will it will literally put success and victory. It'll put it in your sights.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:25:39

People like to hitch to successful people. They like to tie themselves of 2 successful people and their wagon. That's what they want. So if you wanna make a change, get momentum in something that you know you can build from. Get that momentum going right, and then watch what happens to other people. They wanna become a part of it. And when this happens, change becomes more possible. And then, as as another part of that change agent, your vision, coupled with momentum momentum or fueled by it, of make small, insignificant beginnings capable.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:26:15

Are you ready? Moving what is seemingly of Immovable. To me, that is so powerful that when I am working with momentum, one of those magic things I get is vision, right, coupled with momentum, fueled by it to make small, of insignificant beginnings capable of of moving what is seemingly immovable forward. I love that. So what are those 4? To to me, truths about the momentum or the magic of momentum. Number 1, it it's a great exaggeration. Makes you look good. Right? It's it's it makes the things that you're doing look great. It magnifies them.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:27:01

Right? Then it up to you as the individual. Number 2, makes you look good. So what you do, number 1, makes things look good. Number 2, makes you look better. Right? It'll change people's perspective of you because you're getting movement. You're getting momentum. You're getting flow. The third thing that it does is it helps of the followers perform better because even average people can perform far above average in an organization with great momentum.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:27:29

And then the last one, that momentum is one of the most powerful change agents. When you couple that with your vision and and momentum is helping to fuel that, it'll make the small and significant thing of capable of moving what seems to be immovable. So think about that. Take some time and ask yourself a question. What do I need momentum in? I would like you to spend some time with that. What do I need to spend some time thinking about and thinking where do I need momentum in my life? In my family, in my work, in my community. Make a list of those things. What where do you want the momentum? NK.

Tim Pecoraro [: 00:28:12

And and and then for me, like, why? Why do you want that momentum? How does that tie to your core values? How does that tied to your belief or the direction. So don't ask, can you get it, can you do it? I wanna know what is it you want. What do you want? Of where where do you want the momentum, and what do you want it to look like in those areas? K? So decide first that you want that. And then from there, now we wanna get into over the next several weeks or episodes, we're gonna get into what it takes to build it, what it takes to maintain it, and then also, ultimately, how to make sure you protect it from some of the forces that are around it. And so until we talk again, I hope that you will sit down, take some time, invest in yourself, think about the momentum that you would like to have in the area of your life where you would like it, and then let's ready to do the work. Ask yourself, what do I want the momentum, or where do I want it? What do I want it to look like? You know what I'm saying? And what's my reason? What's how's that title of core values? Alright? Do the work, and we'll talk of