Episode 734 - Forward Momentum

Being busy doesn’t always mean you’re making progress. In Episode 734 of Monday Morning Mojo, Phil reflects on how even a good, stable life can slip into a quiet rut when comfort replaces momentum. Through a real-life story of a professional who realized she needed a spark, Phil shows how committing to just one challenging goal can create energy, clarity, and confidence that spills into every area of life. If you’ve been feeling a little too comfortable lately, this episode is a reminder that forward motion changes everything; and it’s almost impossible to feel stuck when you’re moving toward something meaningful.

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Transcript

Top performers in every field surround themselves with those who inspire them, who seek to build them up, and who push them to reach beyond their current limits. I'm Phil Buchanan, executive chairman of Cannon Financial Institute. To. I designed Monday Morning Mojo to provide you with a weekly spark, a push and motivational insight to live your best life. Thanks for joining. 

Good Monday morning. It is Phil here with episode 734 of Monday Morning Mojo. I received a call in early December from a former Cannon student. For the purposes of this conversation, we'll call her Ellie. Ellie wanted career advice, but our conversation quickly moved into her overall life.

She said what had prompted the call was a recruiting outreach that she had received about a job at another firm. She said that she routinely receives these types of calls and has always been very polite, listening to the offers, but had never really considered a move. She reported that the most recent inquiry, while not any more interesting than any other, had actually gotten her thinking about her stage in life and her life in general.

To put a fine point on it, she was in a rut. Nothing dramatic. Her family situation was stable. Her health is fine and she enjoys her work, but Ellie wasn't feeling energized by her overall situation. I asked Ellie several questions, both professionally and personally and quickly got a sense that like most of us at certain periods of our lives.

She was while on a solid plateau in every area of her life, but she felt that something in general was missing one statement. Ellie Maid synthesized her situation. She said, and I quote, I know a lot of people would gladly trade places with me. And I'm grateful for everything I have, but I feel too comfortable.

I need a spark. Now. For some reason, that statement caused my mind to drift back to a high school physics class and Newton's first law, uh, you'll remember. Newton's first law, an object at rest, stays at rest, and an object in motion, stays in motion, et cetera. Using that thought, I asked Ellie what goals, aspirations, or objectives she was actively working on in any part of her life, and it didn't matter for us, personal, professional, social, spiritual, et cetera.

She was quiet for a moment. And then she said that nothing really came to mind as she felt she was so busy with work, family, et cetera. I then shared with her that being busy doesn't equate to forward momentum activity doesn't equate to accomplishment, momentum, or the lack of it. It's actually contagious.

It can positively or negatively impact other areas of our life as well. When we are pursuing a dream or a goal, and again, it doesn't matter in what part of our life we're doing this, but when we're doing that, we have steps that we have to take, and these steps often force us out of our comfort zone. Now, while situations like this can feel awkward.

They also push us. They heighten our senses, they energize us. Perhaps most importantly, again, the pursuit of moving forward towards a goal in one area of our lives actually opens up our minds, our emotions, and our energies. In other parts of our lives during our talk, I suggested to Ellie that she take some time over the holidays and pick one goal or one pursuit that she's always dreamed about.

Always, always thought about, and create a plan for working towards attaining it. In 2026, she seemed to really like the idea and she promised to keep me updated. Well, I got an email from her last week with an update. It seems that on December 27th, she did a tandem parachute jump from over 10,000 feet.

She said that she had thought about doing this for years, but it never really pursued it until now. Additionally, she has signed up for a marathon in Delaware this April and has begun her training. She reported that she has done several 5ks in her adult life, but never anything longer. 

Ellie says that her daily training requires getting up at 5:00 AM. And it's also evidently been very cold in the northeast, but that in doing her training runs in the morning, she is so energized and so confident when she hits the office that she's mad with herself that she didn't do this sooner. I could literally sense the positive vibes there are occurring in her world as I read her message.

Now, let me be clear to all of you listeners. I am not advising anyone to go jump out of a perfectly good airplane nor to go run 26.2 miles. That's your call. What I do know is that when we do challenging things and we pursue big goals, it propels us forward mentally. Emotionally and energetically, and this bleeds over into the rest of our lives.

It certainly seems to have done that for her. And no, she didn't change jobs or careers. She loves her career. She loves her company. My guess is that she'll likely have a banner professional career year this year. What Ellie was missing was just a little momentum push, so the next time you feel stuck, you feel like you're in a rut, go take a look.

At your personal bucket list, what's on that list that you haven't yet attempted, you haven't yet pursued? Get a plan together to make that happen. 'cause you know, it's almost impossible to feel stuck when you're moving forward on a goal.

Monday Morning Mojo is production of Cannon Financial Institute, executive producer of Monday Morning Mojo is Sarah Jones. Editing and mixing is done by Danny Brunner. Until next time, I'm Phil Buchanan reminding you to be a force for good. Have a great week and thanks for being part of the Mojo community.