Momentum and the Mountain

October 27, 2025

So, yesterday I said I was taking a break from here.

And I did.

A whole 24 hours!

Maybe.

But then, something happened that I felt like sharing.

So earlier today, I was working on my quarterly sales tax filing, glamorous, I know, when I accidentally opened a PDF from way back in 2019.

It startled me because I had completely forgotten it existed. Isn’t it funny how things can live quietly in your computer for years? As life goes on, you just keep saving files, dragging them into folders with good intentions, and they just stay there. Ghosts of your past productivity. Man was I productive in 2019.

Anyway, the PDF was a workbook by Tony Robbins called The Power of Momentum. It promises to guide you through “Seven Steps to a Fulfilling Next 12 Months!”

(Read that in Tony’s deep, booming voice. Everything he does, he does with energy!)

I actually went to a Tony Robbins event once—

it was part rock concert,

part business seminar,

part “what is happening right now?”

and part "why are these people so rude?"

But that’s a story for another day.

Are you ready??

The seven steps to a fulfiling next 12 months are:

1. Get Clear

2. Get Certain

3. Get Excited

4. Get Focused

5. Get Committed

6. Get Momentum

7. Get Smart

I was, of course, disappointed to see that “Run away to Belize and become a conch-diving tour guide” didn’t make the list. Whatever, Tony!

Still, I skimmed Step One: Get Clear.

It starts by asking what you loved in the past twelve months—what felt magical, what moments you want to repeat. Then it flips: what was hard, what you don’t want to relive, and what you learned along the way.

And I thought about what felt magical—conch diving in Belize and swimming with wild manatees. Obviously.

But the questions about the hard stopped me,

Because I’ve been doing that all year.

I don’t need a workbook for it—I’ve lived it in boundless measure and have written it all right here, post after post, as I tried to understand, grieve, rebuild, and come home to myself.

So I closed the tab and sat for a minute.

Because the truth is,

I don’t feel ready to plan the next twelve months of my life.

Not yet.

It’s not that I don’t want momentum—I do. I crave it.

But I also know that taking a rest between mountains is just as important as the climb itself.

Right now, I feel like I’m somewhere near the top of my own Everest. The air is thin, the ground is steep, the weather is unpredictable, and every step takes more out of me than I expect. I can see the summit, I think, but I’m also in the death zone, where progress can’t be rushed.

Up here, breathing is the goal, the strategic placement of each step matters, and rest in between is essential.

So Tony, thank you for the workbook. I’ll get back to it soon—I swear!

What's another six years?

But for now, I’m going to stay right here in the altitude of what’s next.

Not forcing the climb.

Not racing the clock.

Just letting my body, heart, and spirit breathe before the next ascent begins.