Master the Art of Momentum: Daily Routines That Deliver Results

Welcome back to our 2025 planning series.

You’ve done the hard work of reflecting on your past and assessing where you stand today (See: The Hidden Power of Looking Back Before Moving Forward) and defining a vision for the year ahead (See: Don’t Leave 2025 to Chance: Define Your Future Today). You’ve even set clear goals (See: 4 Hidden Problems That Sabotage Your Goals—and How to Fix Them)—goals that align with the life you’re building and the person you’re becoming.

If you haven’t started yet, don’t worry—you’re still on track. The key to success isn’t about when you start; it’s about taking consistent action from wherever you are today.

But here’s the thing: planning alone doesn’t create results. The difference between success and stagnation comes down to what you do daily. It’s not the big plans or grand gestures but the small, consistent actions that move the needle.

This week, we’re talking about building momentum through routines. Daily and weekly habits are the systems that turn your vision into reality. When done right, they eliminate drift, build confidence, and create results that compound over time.

Let’s dive in and map out how you can put this into action.

Bookending Your Day: Morning and Evening Routines

Your day starts and ends with choices. Are those choices moving you closer to the life you’re building? Or are they allowing drift to creep in?

Establishing intentional morning and evening routines ensures you begin with focus and end with reflection. These “bookends” give structure to your day and create a foundation for success.

Morning Routine: Start with Clarity

Your morning sets the tone for the rest of the day. Make it intentional:

1. Review your 3 words, Future Self, or eulogy (or any combination you chose to define your year). These tools, detailed in Don’t Leave 2025 to Chance: Define Your Future Today, anchor you to your identity and vision for 2025.

2. Set your top 3 priorities. Decide what truly matters today. Keep it simple and focused.

3. Visualize your day. Close your eyes and mentally walk through what success looks like. Then, jot down bullet points of how your day will play out. "Never start a day until you’ve lived it on paper." - Jim Rohn

4. Decide the day you want to have. Choose your energy, attitude, and focus—because these are within your control.

Evening Routine: End with Abundance

Your evening is a chance to reflect, adjust, and prepare to win tomorrow:

1. Write down your wins. Recognize both the big and small victories from the day.

2. Preview tomorrow. Look ahead, identify potential challenges, and adjust your priorities.

3. Gratitude journaling. End the day by listing what you’re grateful for. Gratitude shifts your mindset into abundance.

4. Review your 3 words, Future Self, or eulogy again. This reinforces your identity and keeps you aligned with your vision.

Why It Works

Your routines act as anchors, ensuring that your days don’t run on autopilot. Instead, they’re designed with purpose. When you begin with clarity and end with reflection, you create a cycle of focus, growth, and consistency.

While you can’t always control what happens during the day—the unexpected challenges, distractions, or demands—you can control how the day begins and ends. These moments are yours to define. By starting with intention and ending with reflection, you reclaim control over the bookends of your day, no matter how chaotic the middle may feel.

This consistency grounds you, keeps you aligned with your priorities, and ensures that your vision isn’t derailed by the inevitable uncertainties of life.

Micro-CTA: Tonight, take 5 minutes to write down your wins for the day and preview your priorities for tomorrow. See how this small step shifts your mindset.

Something > Nothing: Progress Over Perfection

Some days don’t go as planned. The meeting runs long, the gym is closed, or life throws you a curveball. These moments can derail your momentum if you let them—but they don’t have to.

The key is to adopt the mindset that something is always better than nothing. Even the smallest action moves you forward and builds consistency, which is the real driver of results.

The Principle: Small Steps Still Count

Progress isn’t about perfection—it’s about showing up, even in the smallest ways. The magic of small actions is that they create momentum. Once you start, you may find you can do a bit more than you expected.

Actionable Steps

1. Put Points on the Board: If your day crashes and you can’t stick to your full plan, do something small instead:

   • One pushup.

   • Hold a wall sit for 1:00.

   • Five air squats.

   • Choose club soda, not a cocktail

   • Double up on your protein portion, skip the starchy potatoes.

2. Focus on the "C" in ABC(D): A “C” action still counts. Completing something—even at a basic level—establishes the habit and keeps you moving forward. (Read more about ABC(D) prioritization in 4 Hidden Problems That Sabotage Your Goals—and How to Fix Them.)

3. Celebrate Starting: Acknowledge that even a small action is a win. When you journal your wins as part of your evening routine, include these small actions. They’re proof that you stayed in the game, even on imperfect days.

Why It Works

Taking action, no matter how small, reinforces your identity as someone who follows through. These small wins build confidence, maintain momentum, and keep you aligned with your long-term goals—even on imperfect days.

Micro-CTA: Tomorrow, commit to doing something—even if it’s small—when plans don’t go as expected. Start with one pushup, one squat or a 1-minute action.

Habit Stacking: Making New Habits Stick

Building new habits doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. In fact, the easiest way to create lasting change is to tie a new habit to something you already do every day. This is called habit stacking, and it’s a powerful way to seamlessly integrate new behaviors into your routine.

The Principle: Anchor the New to the Familiar

When you attach a new habit to an existing one, you’re leveraging an automatic behavior as the trigger for the new habit. Over time, the new habit becomes just as natural.

Actionable Steps

1. Start with a Daily Habit You Already Do: Examples include brushing your teeth, making coffee, or commuting to work.

2. Add a New Habit: Attach the new behavior to your existing routine:

   • While brushing your teeth, reflect on your 3 words, Future Self, or eulogy to align with your vision.

   • While having coffee, review your top 3 priorities for the day.

   • While walking to your car, mentally plan your first task of the day.

   • While driving, skip talk radio and listen to an audio book.

3. Reinforce with a Mantra: Each time you complete the new habit, use a short, empowering phrase to connect the action to your goals. Examples include:

   • "This is who I am."

   • "I follow through."

   • "Small actions create big results."

Why It Works

Habit stacking reduces friction by building on behaviors you’re already doing. Reinforcing the habit with a positive mantra strengthens your commitment and connects the action to your identity and long-term goals.

Micro-CTA: Choose one habit you already do every day and stack a new, aligned behavior onto it. Start small and build momentum.

Momentum Through Small Wins

Big results start small. Each win you create—no matter how minor—adds to your momentum. These small victories compound over time, creating a foundation of confidence and progress that accelerates your results.

The Principle: Wins Build Momentum

Momentum isn’t about doing everything perfectly—it’s about consistent, forward movement. Each win reinforces the habit of showing up and reminds you that you’re capable of achieving your goals.

Actionable Steps

1. Recognize Patterns: Look back at your recent wins and ask yourself:

   • What small actions led to progress?

   • How did they impact my momentum for the day or week?

2. Stack Wins: Use your wins as stepping stones. Let the confidence from one success carry over to the next action.

3. Use Reflection to Build Momentum: During your evening routine, write down how today’s wins are contributing to your bigger goals. Identify how each small step connects to the bigger picture.

Why It Works

Small wins don’t just add up—they multiply. They create a positive feedback loop that builds confidence and keeps you motivated. Over time, this momentum turns small, daily actions into transformative results.

Micro-CTA: Tonight, identify one win and reflect on how it connects to your bigger vision. Celebrate it—you earned it.

Scoring Your Day: Measuring Progress

Measuring your progress doesn’t just show you how far you’ve come—it creates accountability, builds personal integrity, and helps you spot patterns that keep you on track.

The Principle: What Gets Measured Gets Managed

By assigning a score to your day, you create a feedback loop that reinforces success and identifies areas for improvement. It’s not about judging yourself—it’s about learning what’s working and adjusting where needed.

Actionable Steps

1. Choose a Scoring Method:

   • Binary (1 = meet my goal/standard/intention, 0 = did not).

   • ABC(D): Grade your day, as detailed in 4 Hidden Problems That Sabotage Your Goals—and How to Fix Them.

   • Daily Standards: Score how well you adhered to your habits.

2. Reflect on Your Scores:

   • What went well today?

   • What could I improve tomorrow?

3. Adjust: If you notice trends of low scores, identify the root cause and adjust your routines or approach.

Why It Works

Scoring provides a snapshot of your progress while building a sense of ownership and accountability. It reinforces your wins, highlights opportunities for improvement, and strengthens the personal integrity muscle—the commitment to follow through on your goals.

Pro tip: During your morning routine, call your shot before the day starts. Decide what kind of day you’ll have and the score you’ll earn. Then go live it with intention.

Micro-CTA: Tonight, assign a score to your day and reflect: What worked, and what can you improve tomorrow?

Overcoming Procrastination with the 5-Second Rule

Even with the best intentions, procrastination can creep in. Sometimes, the hardest part is simply starting. That’s where the 5-Second Rule, developed by Mel Robbins, comes in—it’s a simple yet powerful way to overcome hesitation and take immediate action.

The Principle: Action Overcomes Resistance

The 5-Second Rule works by interrupting your brain’s tendency to overthink. When you feel hesitation, counting down from 5 to 1 creates a micro-moment of focus, allowing you to act before fear or doubt takes over. This moment of action isn’t just about starting—it builds momentum, rewiring your brain to respond to resistance with action instead of avoidance.

Actionable Steps

1. Recognize the Moment: When you notice resistance—whether it’s getting out of bed, starting a workout, or making a difficult call—acknowledge it.

2. Count Down: Mentally count backward: 5-4-3-2-1.

3. Move: Take immediate action before your brain talks you out of it. Whether it’s standing up, lacing up your shoes, or opening your laptop, the first step is all it takes to gain momentum.

Why It Works

The 5-Second Rule builds a micro-moment of courage, shutting down procrastination before it can take root. By taking action immediately, you disrupt negative thought patterns and gain the activation energy to keep going. Each time you use it, you’re training your brain to respond to hesitation with action—transforming your habits, one decision at a time.

Micro-CTA: Tomorrow, use the 5-Second Rule at least once. Whether it’s starting a workout, sending that email, or tackling a task, count down and act.

Visible Reminders: Keep Your Focus Front and Center

Life gets busy, and it’s easy to let your goals drift into the background. That’s why visible reminders are so powerful—they bring your vision back into focus and keep you aligned with your priorities throughout the day.

The Principle: Out of Sight, Out of Mind

When your goals and intentions are visible, they serve as constant nudges to stay on track. These reminders might feel simple—or even corny—but they work because they keep your future self front and center.

Actionable Steps

1. Write It Down: Take your 3 words, Future Self, or eulogy (or any combination you’ve chosen) and put them where you’ll see them often:

   • On your bathroom mirror.

   • Inside your journal.

   • On your rucksack or gym bag.

   • On your home gym wall or mirror.

   • On your refrigerator or pantry door: Add a sticky note or card with a phrase like, "Does this align with who I want to be?" to remind yourself of your goals before making choices.

2. Leverage Digital Reminders:

   • Set a recurring reminder in your calendar with your 3 words or a motivating phrase.

   • Use task management apps to prioritize your daily reminder at the top of your to-do list.

3. Create Priority Cues: Write down your top 3 priorities for the day on a sticky note or index card and keep it within reach.

4. Personalize Your Reminders: Use words, images, or symbols that resonate with you. These can be as simple as a sticky note with your 3 words or a printed quote that inspires action.

Why It Works

Placing reminders in areas of potential distraction or temptation, like the refrigerator or pantry, keeps your goals in focus when you need them most. These touchpoints throughout the day reduce the chance of drift and reinforce your commitment to intentional action.

Micro-CTA: Write down your 3 words or top priority for tomorrow and place them in a visible spot. Make it hard to ignore.

Conclusion: Build Momentum, One Day at a Time

Momentum isn’t built through perfect days or massive leaps—it’s created through small, consistent actions that compound over time. By designing your routines with intention, you’re not just reacting to your day—you’re creating it.

This week, focus on:

• Bookending your day with purposeful morning and evening routines to anchor your progress.

• Taking small steps forward, even when plans don’t go as expected, because something is always greater than nothing.

• Using habit stacking to effortlessly add new behaviors to your existing routines.

• Celebrating and tracking small wins to build momentum.

• Scoring your day to reflect on what’s working and where to improve.

• Overcoming hesitation and procrastination with the 5-Second Rule—action starts in seconds.

• Keeping your goals and priorities visible with reminders placed strategically in your daily environment.

Call to Action

Take one idea from this newsletter and put it into practice today. Small, intentional changes lead to extraordinary outcomes. Let us know which tip resonated with you most—we’d love to hear about your progress.

Next week, we’ll explore how to optimize your strategies and anticipate challenges, helping you finish 2024 strong and enter 2025 with confidence.

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