That’s me. Playing hoops as a high school junior. Highlighted hair and all.

Your team is down 12. 3 minutes left. You hit a three. The deficit is now 9.

Momentum shift.

You’re up 6 with a minute left. You can taste the victory. Your team hits a three. Now it’s 9. Nearly locked up. The opposition’s shoulder’s sink. Their heads hang. They’re defeated. An announcer will say, “And that might do it.” Instantly, the opposing bench starts thinking about the off-season, the mistakes they made, and their frustration with the coaching staff’s decisions throughout the year. All because of one basket. Momentum.

March Madness gives us a clear example of how crucial momentum is to success. It’s why coaches say, “I want to be playing our best basketball in March.” It’s why commentators call three-pointers the “great equalizer.” It’s just 3 points, but the momentum gained or lost is tangible.

I talk with creatives and businesses every day. Some folks are just trying to make 30k a year on their own. Others are trying to take their product to the national level. They all get different insight.

But one thing that remains: Do things every single day that create momentum. You can do more of those things or less. But do more of them.

Personally, I email 5 folks everyday just to reconnect. Those relationships might turn profitable, or they might not. I know that it’s building momentum.

If you can only close 1% of sales calls, that’s fine. Just have more sales conversations. If you aren’t sure who your target market it, that’s fine. Just market to some people.

Too many folks aren’t sure what to do, so they pause. They sit stagnant for a minute. They lose momentum.

Folks make a living by being time management thought leaders (Time Management Ninja is my favorite blog on this).  A year ago, Chris told me that energy management is more important than time management. I grew to believe him. He then told me that momentum management is the most important of them all. Now I swear by it.

Managing momentum doesn’t take a lot of time, it just takes intention.

Write down 2 or 3 things that you can do every day to build momentum. Those things can take less than an hour. Do them daily. Religiously. You’ll be surprised how far this will take you.

Folks who grow up in Indiana don’t realize the hysteria that they live in until they leave. I remember moving from Indiana to Ohio and the first thing I noticed on the drive was that not every house has a basketball hoop in the driveway. Growing up in Indiana, a boring Tuesday usually ended up with someone getting keys to the school from a relative and a solid 2 or 3 hours of pick-up hoops being played.

In Ohio, it’s all about football. High school stars are household names. I remember the first time I sat in my office’s fantasy football draft. Nearly every Ohio-native knew what high school NFL players went to.

During a trip to Ecuador I found out it was soccer (those kids knew more MLS players than I did). In Hawaii, its pro surfers. One local rattled off a number of “YouTube Sensations” from the surfing world and was speechless when I didn’t know any.

We all grow up around hype. Tribes insulate themselves with their own celebrities. You may have never heard of my heroes. They’re all internet marketers with blogs and podcasts and YouTube channels.

One of the greatest things I did for myself was get interested in tribes outside of my own. In college, I started reading a lot about sustainability and marketing (both outside of my field of study). I then explored web development, advertising and graphic design. Lately, I’ve been interested in local business, scalability & product manufacturing.

Once you step outside your hype, you find new leaders, role models and examples of excellence.

Don’t get buried in your own hype. You’ll miss a lot.

Think back to when you were a kid.

Something made you passionate, something got you fired up.

Maybe it was playing a game, maybe it was injustice in the world. Maybe you got amped up to solve a puzzle, play pretend or take apart an old computer.

Somewhere, that passion got diverted.

Now instead of passionately playing sports, you just passionately watch. Maybe instead of passionately reading & writing, you passionately debate the recent media headlines. Instead of leading, creating and experimenting, you passionately cling to the status quo.

Somewhere passion got lost. Somewhere you got hurt or made fun of or scoffed at for being passionate. So your passion shifted. You toned it down, turned it off or run from it.

Never again will I be made to feel embarrassed, belittled or criticized like that.

I think it’s time for us (definitely for me) to fight back. (Or at least buy this shirt).

Here’s how it looks for me:

Parties

I used to be passionate about parties. Putting a lot of people together for an event. I LOVED gathering a crowd, all different types of folks. As a college RA, I put together some really fun events. But during the process, I heard A LOT of complaints. “This is dumb,” “last year was better,” “you’re ruining the tradition.” The truth is that there were probably 4 complaints, but they’re the ones I remember….

As a student program director, I planned huge events for teenagers. Lots of complaining about details and times and curfew and whatnot from a handful of teens. “Why aren’t we going to this camp?” “Why can’t we stay longer?” “Why aren’t there more supervisors?” “Why aren’t there more boys/girls/seniors/etc?” Again, it was probably 5 complaints, but I just got tired of it.

I let my passion get beat down & get beat out of me. I preferred – from then on – to put together small get-togethers of friends I KNEW would get along and like what we’re doing. I shrunk into my shell, minimized my desire & played it safe.

My Wife

She’d never tell you this, but one of my biggest issues is playing it safe with her. I know that trying something that’s unfamiliar is risky, but going to that same restaurant and then relaxing at home are both playing is safe.

Over the past month, our relationship has shifted. Being real honest with each other (I don’t think I could be more myself with her), I’ve grown to understand just how much passion lays dormant inside me. I’d jump in front of a bullet for the gal. Something deep inside gets sparked and I realize it’s been calloused over after years & years of protecting myself.

My Work

I earned a pretty useless degree in college (who’s with me?): BA in Christian Educational Ministries from a college that’s best known for a wonderful basketball tradition. In the past 3 years, I’ve moved out of that field and into the marketing, entrepreneur, creative space. Lots I learned still serves me, but….

I’ve tucked away my passion and instead tried to opt for not looking like I’m ill-suited for the business world. Don’t speak out too much. Don’t challenge too much. Don’t be too confident or someone will find out that you don’t really know what you’re talking about. Insecurity, I know you well.

Games

During my youth, I was a fierce competitor (maybe a bit TOO fierce). I thought I was the best at whatever I did. My dream of being in the NBA lasted a bit longer than my peers. My belief that I was the strongest, fastest kid in the school lasted quite a bit longer than most.

But I went to college and played football. I learned then – mostly from the upperclassmen on the team – that I was a slow, weak piece of crap. Not a fun way to feel & not a fun crowd to be around. After a year I quit. During the next season, those who were part of the same freshmen class were starters on the team and had a better record than those lame upperclassmen had thought so much of.

Over the next years, I didn’t head to the gym much. I didn’t play on too many sports teams. I didn’t carry too much confidence around. I protected myself from criticism. I protected myself from expectation. I started watching more sports than I played. The passion got beat out of me.

The Internet

I got my first computer in 4th grade. I was hooked. I couldn’t stop tinkering. I’d change setting, move files, download everything I could get my hands on. I probably ruined my family’s first two computers. I was on a path to become a nerd. I was building websites in 1996. I’d make elaborate powerpoint presentations and could probably have been a corporate consultant with excel (if only I’d have known that was a thing!).

But somewhere in my teens, a few of my “friends” scoffed, so I dropped it. Opting instead for video games, downloading music & instant messaging (funny story: I literally asked out two girls at the same time using MSN Messenger).

I was blogging and tweeting before either was cool. In college, my friends thought I was a dork and wasting my time (they MAY NOT have thought that, but it’s what I thought they thought). I kept it up, but learned to curb my passion. There were circles that the passion was acceptable and others it was not.