Don’t you just love those days when you wake up before the alarm goes off – assuming that ever happens – and everything goes just right?  You arrive at work early, have a great day planned and with every minute that passes things just keep getting better and better?  Soon you are flying through the day, jumping hurdles, solving problems, and taking on new projects – you are on a roll!!
 
That’s a description of momentum.  It’s like dislodging a rock from the top of a hill.  At first, it moves slowly and without much power; any small dip or rise in the path could stop it and you would need to push it again to get it moving.  Once that rock builds momentum, once its mass is fully in motion , it gains strength and speed; it hops and bounces over larger and larger obstacles, until nothing can stand in its way or stop its progress.  That’s how you feel on those perfect days; every success builds your momentum until it seems that nothing can stop you.  That’s having momentum in your life.
 
The power to change, to improve, the impact we have on student learning or even on our own personal lives works in the same way.  In the beginning, you need to push hard and persistently to get things moving, to master that instructional strategy that you have intended to try but have found elusive or make that change in your life you have thought about for so long.  Then each small, positive act contributes to a small change.  Those small changes build and the wheel of growth spins faster and faster; finally, the momentum of that movement becomes a force all on its own. 
 
Getting things started takes persistence.  The first few efforts you make will be the most difficult, and they might not seem to make much difference in what happens with students or within yourself.  Think about riding that bicycle; you start out slowly, straining against the pedals, wobbling along the path.  Your whole focus is on getting started and keeping that bike upright.  Every time you push the pedals it gets a little easier and before you know it, you are on your way – effortlessly.
 
Once you set the wheels of change in motion in your life or in your classroom, you have taken the first step to building the momentum you need for those changes to become permanent.  Then your momentum speeds you through the challenges you face daily and even helps you overcome those large obstacles that periodically appear in your path.  But, the secret it to give the rock that first push or the bicycle that first pedal and then keep at it.
 
Take seven minutes today to identify something that needs more momentum in your life.  What is that first steo you need to make?