Don’t lose your momentum

Lekan Otufodunrin

ONE of the best things to consider doing during this lockdown or restriction of movement is going through your old book packs and documents.

I do this once in a while and I always find things that remind me of how well I have done in the past and how I have failed to maintain the momentum that could have taken me to greater heights if only I didn’t get distracted for whatever reason.

Momentum in this context is defined as the strength or force that something has when it is moving…the strength or force that allows something to continue or to grow stronger or faster as time passes.

Last week’s decongestion exercise to get rid of materials that have overstayed their usefulness in my house was another reminder for me of the need to maximize whatever opportunities or ideas we have as we grow in life and career.

I saw some publications of projects that I abandoned when other things came up. I saw the complimentary cards of people I shouldn’t have lost touch with. I saw ideas I wanted to work on but never did.

I once launched the Young Journalists Conference and Award and got people and organizations to support us but the two programmes have not been held for years now after three editions.

I looked at the list of past participants in the conference and award and I see accomplished editors, award-winning journalists and other top media professionals.

I saw folders of the National Christian Journalists conference held twice in first two years of Journalists for Christ which we have not held again and I wondered why it has joined the list of my abandoned good initiatives.

I saw copies of newsletters that transformed careers I no longer publish which I could have moved Online if printing cost was the limiting factor.

I saw the complimentary card the current Vice President, Professor Yemi Osibajo gave me when he invited me to his office while he was a Commissioner in Lagos State to share with him the vision of Journalists for Christ.

I’m not sure I got back to him on what we discussed.

There are always reasons we could come up with why we lost momentum and didn’t build on successes recorded, but in some instances, we can’t justify our decisions. We sometimes just lost steam and gave up when we shouldn’t and moved on.

As you go through your documents, if you find things you should return to after COVID-19, please don’t hesitate.

It’s never late to get back to building on your past successes and renewing your old relationships.

While we must not be tied down to our pasts, we should move on if we must, but be sure it is not for lack of diligence and focus.

Sometimes, what we need to succeed is not starting new things, but enhancing what we have always been passionate about in a better way than we used to do them.

What I have realised is that our progress on some initiatives could be slow, but what’s important is that we should not lose momentum.

An Indian proverb states that the best time to plant a tree was years ago, but the next best time is now!