On 26th November 2006, Linda Ikeji wrote her first post on Linda Ikeji’s blog. It wasn’t the most inspiring. It wasn’t the most professional. It was simply the start of a journey that even she wouldn’t have had the guts to predict where it would have taken her few years down the line. On the same day Tolu Ogunlese, one of my favorite writers posted an article on his blog omoalagbede..com titled “3 Events: Odia Ofeimun, Abidemi Sanusi and Bernardine Evaristo.” The blog had refreshingly well written articles from his wanderings. He wrote with the flair of an established journalist. The blog had only started on September 2006 and towards the end of 2007, Tolu was closing shop. He went to start a photo blogging site. In June 2009, he started another blog toluogunlesi. which is still active today. He was in July 2015 appointed special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari for new media.

While Tolu exceled in journalism, his blogs wasn’t that much of a hit. On the other hand, almost every Nigerian youth have Linda Ikeji’s blog bookmarked on their devices. How did she move from her very first uninspiring post to become an icon in Nigeria blogosphere?

Momentum!

Momentum is the strength or force that something has when it is moving
It is also the strength or force that allows something to continue or to grow stronger or faster as time passes

In Physics : it is defined as the property that a moving object has due to its mass and its motion
Therefore the faster an objects travels, the harder it is to stop. This is Isaac Newton’s first law of motion at work: objects in motion tend to stay in motion, unless acted on by external forces.

Momentum is one of the factors that helped propel Lindakeji’s blog from obscurity to prominence. She wasn’t an overnight success. Her success were built on backlogs of posts which became reservoirs over the years. She worked hard to hone her skills and has consistently served to fill up the free times of Nigerian youth with gists on the go; Her site is the ultimate aggregator of gossips in this part of the world.

This post is not about Linda or Tolu, but on how to harness the hidden power of momentum to enhance whatever be your goal.

How to start building momentum today

Love what you do; first of all its really difficult building momentum when you don’t love what you do, you need the love and passion when the going gets tough; because they will. People like Linda just love writing and maybe gossiping. But even when the blog wasn’t raking in any income, her passion drove her on and she kept on building momentum. A lot of people might have told her to use her time for something better at the beginning, but she held on because the passion was stronger than all the criticisms she would ever have received.

Understand what success means, and how to measure it. For Linda, it would probably mean reaching a lot of people and having them comment on her posts. For someone like Tolu it may just mean the freedom to share his thoughts easily and unrestrained to the rest of the world. Know yours so that at any point in time you can guage how close you are to achieving your goals.

Target small wins; A lot of people struggle to meet their goals because they set out chasing the big wins. They want to achieve success overnight. They try too much too soon and soon enough they burn out. And the ventures are jettisoned prematurely. In building momentum you need to target small wins, why? Because they act as spring boards to more bigger wins. But when you chase too many things, when you fail in one, its shatters your focus, but small wins reinforces your belief in yourself. Break your careers goals into small chunks that you can target small wins in.

Be consistent; It was pretty hard to ignore lindaikeji’s blog because you are sure to get new information and gists whenever you visit; she blogs consistently. A lot of people have argued that she simply aggregates news from different news media around the world. But that in itself takes effort and commitment especially in the early days when it seems like an utter waste of time. When you are consistent, you build up a lot of energy so that when an unexpected opportunity presents itself you are ready. Been consistent also means staying on top of happenings in your field of endeavor.

Look for giants on whose shoulders you can climb on. Giants are there to show us what worked and what did not work, and then we ride on their shoulders to new frontiers; thereby building momentum. Instead of starting from scratch we simply start from where they are. Mentors are also giants, they help steer us in the right direction. So if you don’t have a mentor today, look for one who can help further your goals. They give you leverage in achieving your goals.

Never underestimate the power of social media; social media has made it much more easier to connect with people from all over the world. It has also made it easier to share information like never experienced in human history. Use this to your advantage. Network with and follow people who share your philosophy. Being around people who have achieved what you want to achieve shows that it’s possible.

Why wait. Start today to build momentum for that goal.

I very much would like to hear how you are building momentum so that others can also be lighted.

http://lightednation.com/building-momentum-for-success/