Riding The Wave

Yesterday I introduced the main idea behind psychological momentum (PM) and mentioned how science concluded that success does breed success.

Before we explore how you can create momentum to improve your business development performance (and by consequence, growing your consulting practice), it's important to understand how it works.

In our context, we consultants feel and experience PM when:

1. We feel competent, confident, and in control of our abilities to generate new business opportunities;
2. We recognize that we're doing business development better than our competitors and industry peers;
3. We perceive a higher likelihood of reaching our growth goals.

These perceptions combine to form momentum, which becomes a psychological force or wave that can carry you to further success.

If you know you don't have the right skills or are not confident in the way you've been sourcing new projects now, you will feel like rowing against the current. The same happens when you compare yourself to others and cultivate negative self-talk. Chances are you won't see good results from your initiatives.

When the opposite happens, you have positive momentum. You trust your system and know that the way you're approaching clients and prospects is ethical and effective. You know you're playing your own game by putting relationships first and focusing on only the best opportunities.

Creating positive psychological momentum makes everything easier. It feels natural and effortless, like you're being carried by the wave. The score takes care of itself.

Like ocean waves, however, PM doesn't last for long - you can't ride one forever. If you want to fully leverage it, you will need a series of consecutive momentums.

The question then becomes: How can you create more and bigger waves?

Tomorrow, I'll share what research calls the frequency and intensity effect.