Momentum Is A Funny Thing

Photo by davide ragusa on Unsplash

Momentum, in a psychological sense, is a funny thing. 

It’s a mindset that wields so much influence, dominating our focus, often despite the facts. And while momentum tends to build over time, the reality is that it can also turn on a dime.

You can be in the midst of a string of strong results but one bad event, particularly one that you’d banked on, or considered ‘symbolic’ and your confidence is gone. Similarly, you might be experiencing a run of bad form, and one tight win and our outlook changes entirely.

Clearly, there are analogies here in sports - a team that’s been riding a wave of losses, wins a game against a close rival and their outlook changes completely. Despondence turns to hopefulness and optimism, almost instantaneously.

But it happens in business as well, especially, for example, if you’re in Sales, where confidence and conviction can be sapped by a single loss, if we consider that account to be a “must win” regardless of size, but entirely on account of its symbolic value.

The point is, it’s a mental shift. The facts on the ground haven’t materially changed before or after. The run of losses or the run of wins prior to this single event remain as they are. But how we view them, or rather the context with which we view them, changes completely.

This is a good thing when we win - that symbolic win should be leveraged into a sense of self belief, of conviction to drive forward to build on that winning streak. There’s a psychological power that we should tap into.

But when we lose, it’s important not to overstate the result. We cannot lose hope. We need to absorb the loss, step back, look at our wins to date, our position and the facts on the ground, and keep plugging away. Look for the next win, build on the next achievement, and take the next step.

It takes work, of course, and the mental battles we fight are almost always harder than the physical ones. But it’s worth the effort.