Building momentum within a business is something that good finance professionals deliberately and actively do every day.

We all love to be in a groove – going from strength to strength and enjoying effortless success. Yet while it’s fun having being propelled along by the tailwinds of momentum, there are three reasons any smart finance professional makes building momentum a key strategic goal.

1. Momentum is generative

Put simply, the more momentum you have, the more you get.

In the same way that success breeds success, the energy of momentum always feeds on itself. While it may be slow at first, in no time momentum grows exponentially until you reach a critical mass.

In his excellent book, ‘The Compound Effect’, legendary business thinker Darren Hardy likens the process of building momentum to that of picking up speed on a merry-go-round when we were children:

“The first step was always the hardest “” getting it to move from a standstill. You had to push and pull, grimace and groan, throw your entire body into the effort … finally, you were able to get up a little bit of speed and run alongside it … you had to keep running faster and faster, pulling it behind you as you ran with all your might. Finally, success! Once the merry-go-round was spinning at a good clip, momentum took over, making it easy to keep it going.”

Newton’s first Law of Motion states that objects at rest tend to stay at rest, while objects in motion tend to stay in motion.

So, the key is this. Get moving “” regardless of how hard it can be at first. Gain traction and get the tailwind of momentum working for you early on, then all you need to do is set your sails and go with the flow.

This is a principle I’ve discovered that many of the best mortgage and finance brokers use every day.

Recognising the power of starting every day right, these brokers always aim to make 10 calls before 10am every day. Not only does this help them build positive momentum in their day but over time, it has a massive cumulative impact on their success.

After all, making 10 calls before 10am, every day equates to an additional 2,400 calls over the course of a year – something that will transform any business.

Perhaps the generative power of momentum is most clearly seen in the sporting arena.

More often than not, the team that scores the first goal starts a chain reaction. As they get into a groove, confidence builds and the next goal becomes almost inevitable, then the next, then the next.

We all know that if you want something done, give it to a busy person. Why? Because the gravity of inertia has a tremendous pull that can be hard to break. Busy people are already in motion, so getting things done is no big deal.

Remember, energy is built from energy “” speeding up that which is already moving is far easier than getting an inert object (or person, or organisation) off go.

As leadership guru Dr John C. Maxwell observes, a train travelling 90 kilometres per hour can crash through a 1.5 metre thick steel-reinforced concrete wall without stopping. That same train, starting from a stationary position, won’t be able to budge a 3-centimetre-thick timber block in front of the driving wheel.

2. Momentum is Attractive

Everyone wants to be on a bus that’s going somewhere. There are few things more appealing than being part of an organisation, movement or even a personal relationship that is on an upward trajectory.

By the same token, the first hint of stalling or waning can cause even the most steadfast and loyal devotees to start considering their options.

Better still, like attracts like. Happening places attract happening people. Inspiring places attract inspired people. Even great opportunities seem to be attracted to places of great opportunity.

Momentum truly gives you an unfair advantage when it’s working on your side.

When you’ve got momentum for you, you don’t need to rely on clever strategies for recruiting staff or persuading customers “” both will be attracted to you because you are going somewhere and they want to be a part of it.

3. Momentum is Protective

Just as love covers a multitude of sins in the personal realm, momentum covers a multitude of sins in the professional arena.

Having momentum working for you makes you appear more talented and clever than you really are.

When momentum is on your side, you get disproportionately more than you deserve through the power of leverage. Conversely, when momentum is working against you, it’s easy to appear ill-fated and incompetent ” when neither may actually be the case.

Momentum also provides a powerful sense of stability to any organisation or individual.

If you think back to when you learned to ride a bicycle as a child, you will recall how you came to realise that speed is your best friend.

Naturally, this seemed counterintuitive at first; typically, an unsteady rider will assume that the lowest speed possible is safest. The reality, however, is that a bike is at its most unsafe and unstable when moving slowly; forward momentum is the key to setting off and staying upright.

Remember, having momentum is more than just a whim or stroke of luck – rather it is something that smart finance professionals deliberately and actively build every day.