If you want momentum, you’ll have to create it yourself, right now, by getting up and getting started. — Ryan Holiday

If you want momentum, you’ll have to create it yourself, right now, by getting up and getting started.

Author: Ryan Holiday

Insight: Most of us wait for momentum to arrive like we're waiting for good weather. We tell ourselves we'll start the project when we feel inspired, exercise when we have more energy, or make the call when we're in the right headspace. But momentum doesn't work that way. It's not something that happens to you first, giving you permission to act. It's something you generate through the act itself. The counterintuitive part is that the feeling follows the action, not the other way around. You don't feel like writing until you've written a paragraph. You don't feel energized about the gym until you're already there. This reversal matters because it means you're never actually stuck waiting for conditions to improve—you're just avoiding the small friction of starting. That first step is always the hardest and always the most unglamorous, but it's also the only real gateway. What makes this particularly relevant now is how much we've normalized the idea that everything should feel easy or natural before we do it. We've got apps promising frictionless experiences and content built to capture our attention without effort. But meaningful momentum requires you to deliberately do the hard, small thing today. Not tomorrow when you're inspired, not eventually when circumstances align. Right now, while you're reading this, is actually the most honest answer to when you should begin.

Source: Ego is the Enemy, page 141, 2016