Have you ever heard of the momentum effect?

It’s the idea that once you start going, things begin to build. It can feel like success calling for success — the more you win, the more you keep winning. One small action creates a chain. A spark becomes a streak. A step turns into a leap. That’s momentum.

There’s no single way to get it started. Sometimes you feel it coming. You might even provoke it — maybe it’s the adrenaline of a challenge, or something as simple as crossing off a to-do. Other times, it catches you off guard. You might feel great before it starts, or not at all. But then something shifts: a push, a thought, a decision. A tiny action that doesn’t look like much but becomes everything.

We’ve all experienced momentum in one way or another.

There’s the great kind that makes you feel like you’re on a rollercoaster that only goes up. Clear direction and steady progress. A sense that everything is lining up and carrying you forward. You find yourself thinking, "This is my day. My year. My game." 

And then there’s the other kind. The one that keeps you grounded at best, stuck at worst. When every effort feels heavy, or you’re waiting for a shift that never comes.

But here’s the thing: momentum, whether good or bad, is temporary. Sometimes it builds slowly. Other times it rushes in. And just as easily, it can disappear.

That tension is what draws me in. I’ve noticed it. Felt it. Even chased it.

This blog exists to explore exactly that:

• How we get momentum started
• How we keep it going
• And sometimes, how we find our way out of it

During my time writing my Master’s thesis (believe it or not), I came across a definition that stuck with me. It became the starting point for many of my thoughts, and honestly, the push that led to this blog. Psychologists Seppo Iso-Ahola and Charles Dotson defined psychological momentum as “a perceptual phenomenon that changes human behavior and performance, (1)” where runs of success build confidence, enhance perceived ability, and increase the chances of future success.

In short: progress builds belief, and belief fuels progress.

Momentum looks different depending on the person, the context, or the timing. In sports, it can shift the outcome of a game. For a writer, it’s the first sentence after weeks of nothing. For a founder, it’s turning an idea into a product — then into a hundred customers. In personal growth, it might be getting back to the gym, learning a language you always said you would, or climbing out of a hard time: burnout, grief, heartbreak.

Momentum is about turning a push into motion, and that motion into a story of transformation.

Stories of Momentum explores where momentum begins and what it can do once it starts rolling. Here, you’ll find real stories of people who got started and kept going. You’ll also find raw, reflective thoughts inspired by quotes, books, and everyday moments. I’m not here to offer universal truths. I don’t claim to have them. But for me, this post is where the story begins.

If you’ve ever felt stuck, in need of inspiration, curious about change, or just wondering how others got going, are doing, or kept pushing — I hope this space gives you something to hold on to. Whether it’s a spark or a bit of forward motion.

And if you’ve found your own momentum, I’d love to hear your story. Let’s start something and see how far we get. 

Inspired By:

(1) Seppo E. Iso-Ahola and Charles O. Dotson, “Psychological Momentum: Why Success Breeds Success,” Review of General Psychology 18, no. 1 (2014): 19–33