Make 2018 Your Year of Momentum

It was December 26, 2016. The day I decided to start playing bigger in the game of life. The day that I decided to let my light shine and truly own my personal truth.

For years I did well by society’s standards - finished my education and a great career. But deep down inside, I had this yearning and desire to do more in order to be truly fulfilled. 

I initially ignored that inner voice. As years wore on, I felt like I was shortchanging myself. Like I had settled, which contradicted with the world's narrative of my life. After all, I had arrived, hadn't I? I felt twinges of guilt that I felt like I had settled. It was a vicious cycle.

In December 2016, I didn’t have a personal brand outside of my immediate sphere of influence. No Instagram, Youtube, or Twitter accounts. A dismal LinkedIN and Facebook presence. No website. No blog. No thought leadership articles. Hardly any speaking engagements. I had a very rough draft of a book I had been writing, but no one knew about it. Nor cared.

Truth is, I was scared. And comfortable. And I stayed in this state of purgatory for many, many years. Some of you know exactly what I am talking about. 

As an introvert, I reassured my excuses of inaction. “Of course I hid from the world. That’s what us introverts do. Stop introvert shaming me.”

Nothing particularly spectacular happened on December 26, 2016.  I just woke up that morning and told myself, “I need to satisfy this inner voice. This calling to do more, to be more. I want to become a thought leader. But how was I going to do that?” 

With that question in mind, I was surfing the web looking for an answer. Then I stumbled across this video (worth the 5 minutes!).

Ah, I need momentum! That’s it. And once I get it, I need to keep on moving, no matter what. So the evening of December 26, 2016 I declared 2017 My Year of Momentum.

At first, nothing happened. 

But I kept watching the video and forced myself to do something everyday. I stepped up my efforts with my book. I started writing blog posts.  I started putting myself out there by engaging more online and offline. I enrolled in webinars. I attended forums and events. I reached out to perfect strangers and asked for help. Strangers reached out to me and I generously handed out advice or resources. I networked to curate a like-minded tribe of go-getters, doers, movers, and shakers. I asked questions and I listened to answers. I tried new things. Some things worked, others didn't. But I refined my approach and kept moving.  

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Results of 2017 as my Year of Momentum:

• I launched my blog,  www.christielindor.com and created over 35 blog articles across several platforms, with over 1 million combined views.
• I finished my first book, The MECE Muse, which includes thought leadership from over 50 consulting partners and leaders across 27 consulting and professional services firms. A book I took close to 3 years to write, but thought about it for over 15 years. I will officially be a published author in January!
• I applied and completed Seth Godin’s altMBA, a leadership development program for high achievers, which came with a built-in tribe of amazing men and women doing big things all over the world.
• I attended the inaugural PodSummit in Calgary Canada on a whim and 7 weeks later, launched the MECE Muse Unplugged podcast show. 
• Within 5 months, the podcast show was syndicated on over 10 media channels,had 30 recorded episodes, 20+ amazing podcast guests, 1000+ subscribers across 58 countries on 6 continents and over 20,000 downloads.
• Had media mentions on 10 podcast shows, 5 local/national/global magazines, and 2 television shows.
• Was appointed to my first non-profit board seat with the YMCA Training, Inc., an amazing workforce development program focused on helping individuals gain competitive entry into the workforce and learn English as a second language.
• Created a host of digital assets such as memes and video clips that are used across the various social media platforms. 
• I had the opportunity to meet a number of my celebrity role models in the flesh and have built relationships with 100s of like minded individuals.
• Earned several awards, recognition, and cool projects at work.
• Was offered dozens of unique opportunities and invited to participate in 15 speaking engagements and 2 conferences.
• I created social media presence on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook with over 800 followers across the platforms. My LinkedIn network grew over 120%.

All of this was accomplished in one year, working a fulltime job and having a family. What is amazing is that I didn’t plan for 99% of it!! The only formal goal I had was to finish my book in 2017. I had not heard about the altMBA program nor even knew what podcasting really meant in 2016. 

Most of my accomplishments unfolded organically over the year. What an amazing ride!

"If you ended up where you planned on being on 12/31, it was [by and large] a lost year. A rich life is about ending up in places you couldn't have imagined existed on 1/1. Success is all about the surprise." - Tom Peters (thanks Ryan Jennings)

I am so thankful and grateful for the 100s of people that I met, that I had the privilege of creating an impact for, and those I met that inspired me. I truly lived my truth and everything came into place.

Make 2018 Your "Year of Momentum"

You can have the same – or better – results than I did. All you have to do is decide and get started.  Below are the guiding principles you can consider for your year of momentum:

• Decide that you are worth it to create the internal conviction.
• Create new habits to make change stick.
• Become comfortable being uncomfortable.
• Say Yes to things that scare you.
• Be willing to own and walk in your truth. Ignore the stories that you or others around you narrate designed to hold you back.
• Find a tribe of like minded individuals to create a support system. Leverage the power of LinkedIN or Facebook Groups. 
• Not seek approval or permission from others.
• Treat your wins with the same value as your lessons learned. When something works, replicate it. When something doesn’t work, refine your approach.
• Have fun knowing that you will not have all of the answers.

Having momentum doesn’t always mean everything will be perfect. Nor does it mean that everything you do will be a slam dunk.

To play - and win - big in the game of life, you have got to move.

Momentum means that you will keep moving and making progress by any means necessary. 

I have numerous unfinished articles that I didn’t finish or trashed. I reached out to individuals that never replied back. I recorded dozens of hours for my podcast that were discarded. I have people in my life that questioned my activities and asked why was I doing so much. But I kept moving to the tune of my inner voice.

Is 2018 going to be your breakout year? Let me know below in the comments and I am happy to be one of your momentum cheerleaders. :-)

Have a wonderful, healthy, prosperous, wise, and fun new year!!

This originally appeared on my blog.

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Christie Lindor is a seasoned consultant, podcast host, speaker, blogger, and author of, 'The MECE Muse: 100+ selected practices, unwritten rules, and habits of great consultants' to be published in January 2018.

Want a quick preview of the MECE Muse book? Download your free copy of The MECE Muse Manifesto of Great Consultants.

The views reflected in this post are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the global EY organization or its member firms.