Pace, Momentum, and Inner Creative State

Pace is the speed at which you go through your days. Pace can control you. Tire you. Stress you.

Momentum, on the other hand, is an energy that keeps things moving forward. Momentum can carry you. Power you. Ease you.

My pace...let me rephrase that...the unrealistically rapid pace I felt was necessary to be successful was only leading to stress, anxiety, and self-doubt. I was able to sustain this pace for a time, but had no momentum to fall back on when exhaustion set in. So I would simply collapse physically, mentally, and spiritually. Then I'd pick myself back up and the cycle repeated.

This cycle wasn't so much about consciously speeding through life, rushing through one task after another. It was more of a mental pace. My mind kept screaming, "Go! Go! Go! Faster! Faster! Faster!" It felt as if I was being hurled toward some end goal with no idea what it was or why it was important.

Then one day it hit me like a ton of bricks. What I was feeling was fear. My pace was dictated by my fear - fear of failure. A fear of not accomplishing in life what I set out to do.

Around this same time, I saw a segment on a travel show about a mindful eater. Now, the eating part was not all together interesting to me because I'm just not that into food, but the idea of approaching life with 100% mindfulness I found incredibly appealing.

Desperate to find a way to slow my mental roll, I began intentionally focusing on individual tasks one at a time, fully, and more mindfully. This was of course difficult at first, but as I became more mindful, I could feel my body, mind, and spirit come into alignment. In turn, this alignment created a sense of positive momentum to my days. Then something extraordinary happened. As a result of this momentum, my inner creative state - the place where new ideas start and which I had disconnected from due to keeping up an unrealistic pace - re-emerged, became more reliable, more consistent, and ready to produce, build, deliver. Which naturally lead to achieving more of what I set out to achieve in life.

Today, the health of my inner creative state is a top priority. My current morning routine that grew out of those early days of living more mindfully activates a physical, mental, and spiritual alignment which leads to a stronger, more productive inner creative state.

Generating positive mindful momentum first thing in the morning is key to controlling your pace and keeping your inner creative state primed, energized, and ready to produce. Below is my morning mindful momentum routine. I call it One Momentous Morning.

1. Hydrate
   24 to 32 ounces of water
2. Caffeinate
   Coffee is a must have
3. Meditate
   15 to 20 minutes
4. Contemplate
   Reading and writing
5. Physical-ate
   Combination of tai chi, stretching, juggling, handstands, and strength training

A welcome bonus to this work is I now understand that what we set out to do in life is rarely what we end up doing and that's okay. As long as I do my best to make the most out of what I have here, today, now I'm going to be alright.