Momentum is one of the most powerful forces you can tap into. But it can work against you, even while you think you are succeeding. Early in my success journey, I let momentum take me to places I didn’t want to go. Let me help not make the same mistake:

I had no plan, but I knew I wanted to improve. In early 2013 I picked up my first self-help book: Robin Sharma’s The Leader Who Had No Title. While I’d read a little Stoicism and watched some motivational-type Youtube videos, I had never read a book in this genre before...

This book was the spark. After reading it, I put into action a lot of new habits I now do every day: • Meditation • Getting up early • Journaling daily These habits changed my life. They provided structure where there was no structure before.

I was promoted in my sales role 4 times in just over 2 years. These habits gave me momentum. But it all fell apart. I had sprinted before learning to walk. I ended up stressed out, overwhelmed, and lost. It didn’t matter how much meditation, journaling, or working out I did.

I was in a role that had a title, but I disliked the work. I had not defined what I wanted success or my life to look like. I had let the momentum of success take me to a destination I thought looked good. But when I got there, I realized I didn’t want it.

The next year or so was horrible. I stayed in a role, thinking it would get better. However, it never did. The money was good, but looking back, I should have left much earlier. By the summer of 2016, I found myself unemployed by choice.

I needed to change the direction of my life. I spent the summer of 2016 reading books, doing courses, and journaling. I found a role in a corporate office a few months later. A big shift in career for a sales and retail guy. By late August 2016, I was back at work.

But, before jumping into the job feet first and letting momentum take me to places I didn’t want to go, I asked myself: What will help me not to make the same mistakes? I knew in 2016 I didn’t want to go into another organization and end up in a role I didn’t want to be in.

While I had the personal development habits, the big goals for my future and a sense of direction, something was missing: I was missing rules I was missing guidelines for my life I was missing foundations that framed and defined my performance and success So I created them.

I came up with 7 Performance Principles: • You can perform at high levels • Leading yourself is key • Master your inner game • Link your performance to your strengths • Focus on what you want and define success • Creativity needs organization • Rest, recharge, refocus

What did having these principles do for me? They gave me the confidence to say yes to what I wanted and no to everything else. Having these rules framed my journey. If something fell outside the scope of these rules, I wouldn’t do it.

This meant I ended up moving toward what I wanted faster. I tapped into momentum again. But this time, it led to me being promoted 5 times in 4 years and starting a business. Having rules, frameworks, and guidelines completed my jigsaw puzzle of life improvement.

Create your own rules. I have updated my rules over the years. But they have given me the right structures needed to win. With them, momentum won’t take you to places you don’t want to go. I expand on my rules in this week's newsletter: stephentimoney.com/blog/do-you-fo…

I partner with business owners and help them create their rules for success. They end up: • Saving 10 hrs a week • Increasing their focus • Making an extra $10k-$100K All in less than 2 hrs per week and within 90-Days. Want those results? stephentimoney.com/pro-accelerator

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