How to get lasting momentum for your business

If you want your business to beat the statistics and succeed, you have to learn how to generate sustained momentum. The businesses that thrive are the ones that create systems and habits to keep them driving, growing and adapting over time.

We will teach you how to avoid the pitfalls that slow you down and the secret to building unstoppable momentum in your business.

Know your why

It’s not enough to know what you want to do; for the kind of momentum that keeps you going when things get tough, you have to be connected to a bigger WHY. Successful companies are driven by a vision that goes beyond sales and profit margins.

Tesla’s purpose is to “accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.” Microsoft wants to “empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.” Airbnb aims to “create a world where anyone can belong anywhere.”

“People who are obsessed with their mission never lose momentum.”

A greater purpose unites your team behind a common goal. It gives meaning to the work you do every day and fuels drive and momentum, especially during difficult times.

Create a massive action plan (MAP)

Most businesses have a five or 10-year business plan, but we live in a world where economies and markets change so fast that a static business plan is no longer useful. Instead, you need a massive action plan—a flexible guide that connects where you are now with where you want to go, all while allowing for innovation and adaptation.

A MAP keeps you anchored to your vision and purpose. It requires you to understand your clients and anticipate their needs. A business MAP provides clarity on your goals, your purpose and your clients, and lays out the steps you need to take to get there. This allows you to make decisions quickly—you won’t waste time second-guessing yourself. You’ll stay focused on your goals so you don’t get bogged down in day-to-day tasks and can adjust and pivot when your methods don’t serve your purpose anymore.

Take massive action

You know the phrase “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”? Well, the road to business failure is also paved with good intentions. People have great ideas, but they don’t take action. If you wait for the perfect time or until you feel ready, you’ll be waiting forever. You build momentum when you take massive action, even before you feel ready.

“The path to success is to take massive, determined action.”

Reid Hoffman launched LinkedIn, knowing it wasn’t a polished product. He just knew he needed to get it live, and he could refine it over time. The first design was clunky and had major flaws, but Hoffman believed it was more important to get it into users’ hands and learn from mistakes and user feedback than to keep fixing it behind closed doors. His gamble paid off—LinkedIn was acquired by Microsoft in 2016 for $26.2 billion. Hoffman says, “If you aren’t embarrassed by the first version of your product, you launched too late.”

Perfection gets in the way of progress. Focus on taking massive action, failing and adjusting quickly, and continually improving. This pattern will drive momentum and allow you to progress rapidly.

Embrace strategic innovation

“If you aren’t growing, you’re dying.”

Innovation isn’t just for technology. All companies need to learn, adapt and change to thrive. Make innovation a part of your company’s DNA. Anticipate competition and challenges and adjust before you are forced to. Effective innovation is tied to what your customers want. New technology might feel novel, but innovation doesn’t have to be sexy; it just has to be compelling and fill a need. Don’t become so attached to your product that you aren’t willing to make a change to benefit your clients.

Get to know your clients. Use data to get feedback on your products and customer behavior. When you connect innovation to real feedback, you’ll see significant sales growth.

Create efficient systems

You can’t rely on effort alone if you want to maintain momentum. Your time and energy are limited resources, and you can’t scale and grow your business by continually increasing your effort. Instead, you must create habits, routines and systems that keep moving forward without your direct input. This not only allows you to scale your business, but it gives you the freedom to step back and enjoy the hobbies and relationships that matter most to you.

The biggest growth opportunities don’t always come from major innovations or new initiatives— executing your core business processes more efficiently can lead to geometric growth for the entire company.

Accelerate change with immersion

Whether you want to change your life, relationships or business, immersion is the fastest and most reliable way to effect change. Immersion means that you surround yourself with an environment and with people who inspire you, encourage you and drive change.

If you want to learn a foreign language, you can make incremental progress by studying for years. Or, you can rapidly accelerate your learning by spending time in a foreign country wholly immersed in that language.

Jeff Bezos wanted to learn what customers needed and what drove their buying habits. He spent time in fulfillment centers to fully grasp logistics. He immersed himself in customer feedback to understand his customers and innovate to meet their needs. Bezos studied business leaders like Sam Walton and Warren Buffet to emulate their success. He built a network of business, tech and thought leaders to share insights and accelerate Amazon’s growth.

Business growth events are designed to give you that same level of immersive business experience. They get you out of your business so that you can be fully focused on your business. At these events, you’ll get clarity on your business, troubleshoot problem areas, and share ideas with driven, capable and experienced business leaders.

The attendees at these events represent the highest caliber of business leaders and innovators. While the speakers, classes and workshops are incredibly valuable, the chance to join a community of intelligent, innovative and supportive colleagues is priceless.

Proximity is power. If you want to accelerate change, you have to surround yourself with people playing the game at a higher level than you. It’s the reason that Serena Williams trained with male tennis players ranked higher than her. It’s also the reason that Kobe Bryant and LeBron James famously trained with experienced basketball legends and sought out competitive play even when it made them the underdog.

“If you can get proximity with people who are the best in the world, things can happen because of all the people they know, the insights they have, and their life experience. They can save you a decade of time with one insight.”

Use coaching and community to stay accountable

A network, a coach and a mentor all provide perspective and accountability, which is crucial to maintaining momentum. We all need people who point out the flaws we can’t see and help us celebrate our progress.

Community is essential for sustained growth. Business coaching connects you with a one-on-one coach who serves as a partner, a sounding board, an accountability partner and a cheerleader. A coach helps you get clarity by offering an outside perspective, and they can apply their extensive knowledge and experience to help you craft a solid business strategy. They keep you moving forward and reconnect you to your purpose when things get tough.

Business accelerator training is an intensive, short-term program designed to help new start-ups accelerate their growth. These programs connect participants with mentors and give them opportunities to connect with other driven leaders. In addition to accessing resources and training, participants become a part of a thriving community of entrepreneurs.

Momentum is the bridge between goals and results

You know what you want, but success doesn’t come spontaneously or materialize just because you want it. You can’t wait for success to happen; you have to actively and purposely pursue it. Success comes to passionate, driven leaders who take control of their own future.

Momentum is the result of massive, purposeful action. You have to find your bigger purpose and then make a plan to get there. Don’t be afraid to fail and to learn from your mistakes—innovation is at the core of successful businesses. It can be hard work to build a business and create strong habits and systems, but achieving goals becomes much easier once you’ve created momentum. What was once difficult becomes automatic.

Most importantly, don’t try to do it alone. Athletes, politicians, community leaders and business leaders all need coaches and supportive networks. Growth events, coaches, or business accelerator training can all connect you with mentors and communities that will turbo-charge your growth and fuel momentum.