Yo yo yo. Welcome back to the Further your Lifestyle podcast conversations on lifestyle passions and hustles. My name's Chris, I am your host and I'm super excited to be back here having the conversation with you. Episode 221 today, and we're continuing on from last week's episode where we were talking about how we kind of put things off simply because we're trying to use logic to justify it. And I said, once we can work through those issues and actually just start, we can start to make momentum.

But there is a bit of a challenge here that I want to talk about, because there does become a bit of confusion between motion and momentum, and I guess the prompt that I kind of want to challenge you on and ask you before we get into the actual episode is are you actually moving forward or are you just staying busy? And how do we actually? How do we? How do we mistake activity for progress right, why we chase momentum but never actually slow down enough to check the direction. And I think this is sometimes things which happen where we we see progress and we think it's great progress, but it's not actually the progress that's leading us to where we want to be going or should be going, and they're different kinds of things. So it's easy to say I'm busy, to avoid doing things that we should be doing, similar to what we spoke about last week. But I really want to make sure that we all understand that busy isn't progress. It's kind of like a motion trap, and when we are comparing motion or momentum versus motion, why are we moving but not actually getting anywhere? Like we've spoken about this before, and I guess the other way we can look at it is you know, maybe you're probably questioning that why am I always stuck, or why am I not seeing the results when really you're not actually stuck stuck, or why am I not seeing the results when really you're not actually stuck? You're actually just, you know, spinning around in circles, and there seems to be this illusion of progress when we're actually kind of like we're really just. Are we chasing speed or are we chasing direction or are we choosing the right direction?

And there's a really good analogy to this. Before we get into the actual episode is a lot of the time. If we look at a straight line, it looks like we're going forward, but if we actually looked at it from a bird's eye view, what's happening is you're actually building this spiral right and we're going around and around in circles and we actually haven't moved from a linear, we haven't actually moved from position, we're just going around and around in circles. And so it looks like we're going straight but we're not actually moving. Now, that analogy can be taken in so many different ways, because sometimes it can look like we don't feel like we're moving but we're actually gaining growth and we're getting, you know, spinning around in circles. But in this case, what I'm trying to say is is like it might feel like you're doing lots of things but really you're not gaining the momentum forward. You're just gaining the momentum of going, doing more, doing more, doing more, doing more, and it feels like you're just doing heaps but not actually getting the results you want. So there is a difference between being in motion and moving with momentum. One burns energy, the other builds results, and that's what we're talking about today. So if it sounds like something you're interested in, please buckle up, get cozy. If you enjoy these episodes, make sure you hit subscribe and you can always have them coming to you as a notification every Sunday at 9am. Otherwise you can you know like you can comment to continue the conversation, but most of all, if you think someone else needs to hear this, please share it with them and we can help other people further their lifestyles as well.

Let's roll the intro, let's get into it. So, the confusion between motion and momentum Motion is an activity, right, movement, let me say this again Motion is activity, it's movement and it's hustle, whereas momentum is the compounding progress of progress, like. So, momentum is going to be the compounding progress of actually taking motion, doing activities, doing movement, doing hustles and all these different things. It's energy with actual direction. So why we feel productive but often are just managing busy work, right, why and this is actually why we feel productive but often are just actually managing lots of work or we're doing busy work. So we have to be super careful that we don't get stuck in this busy work. So we have to be super careful that we don't get stuck in this.

I guess in this it's not a. It's kind of like a rat race almost, that you're just really just doing the same thing over and over again. You know, motion, it feels safe. It feels safer, it avoids risk. It avoids yeah, it's probably like perfectionism or it's this fear of failure. Right, it really does feel safe, but it keeps us our minds occupied and it distracts us from often, you know, it often skips, makes us skip asking the question of where is this actually taking me, where am I headed? In this direction, and staying busy is a form of emotional avoidance.

I'll just share a quick story here. So when I was working the nine to five, you know, building going up the corporate ladder, I loved it because I feel like I was going places. Once I got to a manager level and I was thinking okay, the next level, senior manager, a lot harder to get to. And I had been a manager for two years and I was starting to realize that I didn't feel like we were gaining momentum. But I was just motion, I was just doing stuff. I was doing heaps of stuff and I wasn't getting the results I wanted.

Now, some of this is probably because I didn't do things that made me uncomfortable and I was just happy to do what I did. But also, when you want to do things that make you uncomfortable, it's usually because there's a line to where you want to be going and because I was so busy I never really stopped to think about, well, where is this taking me, what am I doing here? And because we went through the pandemic, I was able to kind of stop and slow down for a bit and just kind of think, like, hang on, what do I actually want? Like where do I want to be in 10 years? What do I want in 10 years? And that's when I was able to start to really question around like, well, you know, this isn't going to get me to those places. And I was able to really, yeah, start questioning the direction and realize that this is not going to get me the momentum to getting me to where I want to be. So that's when I was able to, you know, make some changes and decide to step out of the nine to five. And here we are, five years later.

But there's probably some key indicators that show us we're in motion and not making momentum. So let me know if this sounds like something that you've experienced. Number one is you're checking boxes but you're not making an impact. So you're ticking things off but you're not really getting a big impactful result or outcome. You're reacting to tasks but you're not in control of them. You're constantly working but the results aren't growing. You're tired but unclear of what you've actually really achieved and I think, since taking things into my own hands, taking control and starting my own business. Not saying that's what you should do. What I'm saying is because I now knew what I want, where are the direction I'm going, and I've got clear indicators of telling me am I making progress? Whereas when I'm working for someone else, it's all reliant on other people coming and saying, yeah, you've achieved this and this is great, and we want you to be doing this, where you've got to meet so many other people's expectations, including yourself, so it can get a little bit messy. So we need to start to reframe this. We need to look at it from a different perspective.

Momentum is motion. With memory, it builds on what you've already done, right. So momentum compounds. Motion just consumes, and this is why it's super important when I talk about the time's going to pass anyway. So how are you leveraging your time? Are you doing one thing every day that's going to get you closer to where you want to be? Because if you are, it's going to compound and that momentum will start to build, whereas if you're not and you're just doing things daily, you're just consuming that time thinking about all the things you should be doing when really you're not actually making progress right, because you're just running around in circles, you're just consuming time and you haven't actually done anything that's going to get you closer to where you want to be.

So a couple of prompts that I want to challenge you on. We're going to keep this short and sharp. I just want to keep it short and sharp, simply because let's just get out there and do one thing today that we need to get done right. That's going to get us closer to where we want to be. So a couple of prompts. What's one thing you've been doing out of habit and it's not progress right? You've probably just been doing it so often that if you actually stopped right now and think about it, does that thing get you closer to where you want to be? The question you've probably got to be asking yourself is do you know where you want to be? The next prompt is if I stopped half of my tasks, would anything actually break? And this is an interesting one.

Sometimes we do things just because we think these are the right things to be doing, because it's going to get us to a result, but sometimes they're actually just bad habits, or they're self-sabotage, or they're things which really aren't going to enable the growth and the alignment to where we want to be. And the other thing I'll ask you is this am I reacting to life or building something with intention? And this is super key because it really just brings together as a whole 360 of everything we just discussed. Right, things come to us, you know, if you're working for someone else or all these different things, and a lot of the time we're just reacting, but where's the proactiveness? What are you doing with intention?

Now, I've got nothing against working the nine to five. There's some really great jobs that you can find that align you with the things that you want to achieve in life your purpose, your values. You get fulfillment, you feel joy and you're making a big difference. That's what you want. Because if you're doing that, you're doing it with intention. But if you're just doing a job right to react to life, that's not good. Right Now, I also understand with sensitivity that people in different situations, right, sometimes we have to do these jobs to get us out of a rut, to get us to that next thing. But that's what I want to challenge you on. It's like, okay, you're doing these things to get you to somewhere. When are you getting to that somewhere? How are you making sure that you are getting to that somewhere and when are you going to be ready to actually make the jump into that thing that you're working towards? Because it's easier to then start putting it off because it's going to be scary to make that jump. So that's what I want to really really challenge you on.

But I will say this motion keeps you moving, momentum keeps you moving forward, and that's why the whole spiral thing is really a key way to look at this. It's like with motion, you're moving, you're doing heaps, you're going around, but you're just going around in circles, right. So it feels like you're doing so much when really momentum is enabling you to do one thing on top of the next, one thing on top of the next one thing to actually getting closer to where you want to be. You know, if we did 1% better every single day you're going to, I think it works out to be like 37 times better by the end of the year. All right, and I think that's super important. That's from Atomic Habits. Go read the book. I don't want to butcher it, but it's super important to realize that's why it's so key to be doing those things that are going to get you closer to where you want to be.

Don't just do things for the sake of doing things or because someone else tells you to do it. Actually understand, where is this getting you to Now? Of course, there's things that you've got to do because that's to live. You've got to do your job, all these different things. But if you have an idea, or you want to build a new product, or you've got a dream, what are you doing daily to get there? And I'm not talking about, oh, I've got to build a special brand or got to have the logo right, what are you doing that's actionably, tangibly correct in making you get that progress one step further. Have you started that thing? Are you working on that thing? I mean, come on, let's do it. I've got so many episodes on this.

So final challenge for you is this pick one area where you're in motion and ask this question what would it take to turn this into momentum? It's not about adding more, but how do I aim to add traction and not traffic, right? So we want to go from just the idea of moving to actually moving forward, because I could be doing this, I could be doing this, but I'm not actually moving forward. Right, you've got to take a couple of steps. You've got to be actually walking, you've got to be running, you've got to be having that momentum happening. You want to be moving forward.

I'm going to leave you with that. Think about it, absorb it, soak it in, have another listen and if you want to continue the conversation, more than happy to have you jump down into the comments. We can talk about it, we can chat about it. I would love to be able to hear and help and share, and I might not have all the answers directly in relation to what you're trying to solve. If I can help you, I will. If I can point you in the right direction, I will, but sometimes it's just great to be able to chat about it. So, jump down into the comments. More than happy to continue the conversation. Appreciate you being here. If you enjoyed it, make sure you like, subscribe and, most of all, if you think someone else needs to get their self stuck in motion and actually sorry get themselves out from being stuck in motion and actually start getting some momentum, then make sure you share this video with them as well. We'll be back here again next week doing it all again. Really appreciate you, cheers.