By Michael Evans, April 5, 2024
The Simple Mindset Shift That Changes Everything
The most powerful force in the universe? Storytelling.
The second most powerful force in the universe? Momentum.
Here’s the thing: you probably aren’t harnessing momentum effectively as an author.
I know for years I wasn’t. I constantly killed my momentum and in that squandered much of my creativity and passion. How can you ignite that in yourself stronger than ever?
Momentum is like a snowball rolling down a hill. At first it starts off as a little itty bitty ball that needs a huge push to get going, but then eventually, it gets bigger and bigger until the snowball is the size of a boulder.
The problem?
Too often we get eager, excited, or panicked and we stop our cute little snowball before it can get rolling.
Do you ever wonder why the same people and companies keep winning over and over again?
Do you ever wonder how some authors can create story after story that not only sells well but continues to be amazing?
Yes, momentum is a huge part of that.
But I’m not telling you anything new here.
The thing is often times when we look at the perceived momentum that others have our mind is playing a trick on us.
We THINK that it’s an unstoppable force of nature. A huge snowball barreling down an endless mountain of cotton candy and sunshine.
In reality, it’s a spiky snowball that gets stuck in jagged mountain rocks, constantly climbs up and down valleys, and even sometimes has other people and natural forces trying to stop the roll of your snowball friend.
Okay enough of the weird imagery — it’s spring time after all and the more I keep talking about snow I am feeling chilly!
But there’s an important message here.
Momentum is a constant up and down battle. Some days we are in the writing flow and unstoppable. Other days, we are stressed, not feeling it, and unable to get the words out.
Some launches the marketing comes so naturally it feels almost *too* easy. Other times we have a great initial climb of our subscription but suddenly our growth seems to halt.
It’s in these moments that it can all start to feel out of control. That we give in to our worst habits. That actually start to work against ourselves.
Here’s 3 simple steps I use to create constant momentum in my life. Some days are easier and better than others, but this is my #1 reason for being able to get so much done, whether it’s Ream, school, and the rest of life.
Step #1: Cultivate a “winning” mindset.
I use “winning” in quotes because in order to win, others do not have to lose. Which makes life super fun cause we get to win together! But even more so winning is really about achieving and surpassing what you set out to do.
A winning mindset is your personal belief in yourself.
If I was to stop and take a straw poll, how many of you *really* believe in yourself?
My guess would be that those who say “yes” or “I believe in myself most of the time” would have at least one area of their life that they feel really good about. Maybe they are excelling in their day job. Maybe they have a writer’s group they enjoy. Or maybe they are being a kickass mom to their kids.
Once you start to get one win in one area of your life, the rest becomes so much easier. Where can you start to feel better about yourself? Where can you start to prove to yourself that you can win?
Start there and double down on it until the “winning” mindset becomes a part of who you are.
I want you to focus on cultivating this so that one day you can look at yourself in the mirror and say the words “I believe I can do anything I put my mind to”. That’s a powerful place to be.
And it makes the initial inertia of getting your snowball rolling easier every time. But there’s an even more important step.
Step #2: Follow the pull of gravity. TLDR: Do things that give you energy rather than take away from it.
Now that we have a winning mindset, the foundation of sustaining momentum, we need a way to *create* momentum.
When we start pushing against ourselves, it’s very hard to gain momentum.
What do I mean by this?
Too often we listen to what we *think* we should be doing or what society says is best for us and ignore our natural strengths and passions.
Maybe you are writing your first book and hear a very specific subgenre and trope pairing is selling well but your natural desire is to write a completely different style of fiction. Maybe you are beginning to market your books and heard everyone needs to be on TikTok, meanwhile you have never filmed a video in your life and have zero desire to.
When we try these kinds of tasks — tasks that work against who we are and what we want for our lives, we have to exert an immense amount of energy to gain any momentum from them.
It’s like we are trying to roll a boulder up a never ending hill. Doesn’t sound fun, right?
Luckily, there’s a better way. Choose your battles and mountains wisely. Instead of rolling up a mountain you never wanted to climb anyways, you can do things better suited to your passions and strength.
Write that story you have always wanted to write. The one that feeds your soul.
Ditch all the marketing fads. Connect with new readers in a way that resonates with you and excites you. It might not be the “fastest” path to growth — but momentum is all about continued movement over a long period of time.
In short, the “fastest” is rarely the best!
The most helpful framework for me in this regard has been doing an energy audit.
Every day I look at what I do and what gave me energy and what took energy from me.
Given how my funky brain works, it is actually quite easy for me. Something that gives me energy will often increase my heart rate, send adrenaline coursing through my veins, and I will feel the passage of time dissolve.
Meanwhile, if it takes energy from me, I’ll constantly stare at the clock, I can feel my body get heavy, and my thoughts start to slow down.
Don’t get me wrong… it’s nice to have a healthy balance of things that energize me… and maybe some more neutral activities.
But the more and more you can do what lights you up, the better suited you will be to build momentum in your writing life and life at large.
This is my single greatest tool that I utilize. And often times this means literally listening to my body and feeling what is giving me energy on a day-to-day basis. Sometimes what energizes me one day may drag me down the next. But given another 48 hours I will be ready and energized to tackle that task.
We all know the feeling! It’s supposed to be a marketing day but instead find ourselves writing that next chapter. This is a good thing.
Don’t guilt yourself and work against yourself for leaning into your passion. If you consistently find that “marketing” is something you are avoiding when leaning into your creative momentum… then you might need to change your approach to marketing to make it more aligned with something that gives you energy rather than takes it away.
Step #3: Give yourself boosts to get the ball rolling.
Now once you have the right mindset and are doing the right things for you, you will be cultivating immense creative momentum in your life.
But we can still go further.
Down the individual task level.
The idea here is simple.
Give yourself boosts that push you forward whenever you can.
Example: when drafting your story, don’t just stop your writing session when you close out a chapter. Begin the next one even with just a few sentences so that you can hit the ball rolling next time you write with some of the chapter already drafted.
This is a productivity hack we have all heard before but it extends to other areas.
For instance, when get an idea for an email campaign to send out to your readers or a marketing campaign, start outlining it immediately when the idea is fresh so when you go back to revisit it you already have the beginning laid out.
You can give yourself little boosts like this in nearly every area of your author career.
External accountability can also be a gem here. Run a challenge with fellow authors where you must get a certain word count in or market your books every week.
And that’s it!
A 3 step framework to help you grow faster as an author by changing your mindset around momentum. I hope you enjoyed this one!