The Truth About Momentum and How It’s Really Built

Every January, people talk about fresh starts, new goals and big intentions.

And then life hits, momentum fades, and by February, most people are restarting again.

This episode is about breaking that cycle.

Today we're talking about momentum.

What it actually is, why it matters, and how to build it in a way that lasts not with hype, not with burnout, but but with consistent weekly actions that compound over time.

If you want 2026 to feel different, it starts right here.

The great Mark Cuban once said, business happens over years and years.

Value is measured in the total upside of a business relationship, not by how much you squeezed out in any one deal.

And we couldn't agree more.

This is the Business Development PODC in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and broadcasting to the world.

You'll get expert business development advice, tips and experiences.

And you'll hear interviews with business owners, CEOs and business development reps. You'll get actionable advice on how to grow business brought to you by Capital Business Development capitalbd ca.

Let's do it.

Welcome to to the Business Development Podcast.

And now your expert host, Kelly Kennedy.

Hello.

Welcome to our New Year's Eve 2025 episode of the Business Development Podcast.

Happy New Year everybody.

As we have celebrated over the break our 300th episode as well as episodes 301 and 302, you may have noticed that we did not really slow down into this Christmas.

Even Shelby asked me why I don't just re release one of my favorite past episodes for this very New Year's Eve show.

And today we're going to get into it.

And while I reserve the right to do that sometime in the future, I really love creating and producing this show.

Fresh and new week over week, month over month and year over year.

No matter what those years or months may bring.

See, here's the thing.

2026 is going to be a huge year.

I don't know how I know that, but I feel it in my bones.

And you know what?

A lot of people I've spoken with say that too.

As I lay here on the floor writing this show plan in front of my wood burning stove, I find myself hopeful and inspired to take every aspect of my business and life to the next level in this coming year.

It's very likely, as it has been for many aspects of my podcast in business, that I won't be able to see the next big thing coming.

God and the universe are funny like that.

You can make all the plans in the world, but it's usually the thing that you did not plan for.

Couldn't have planned for that will have the biggest impact on your life and your business.

Now, does that mean that we should not plan at all?

No, of course not.

I still write my annual plans each year.

In fact, I plan to do it this very weekend.

As a human and a leader, having goals and lists really helps me to focus on moving forward each week.

Expecting the unexpected is not about not having a plan.

It's about leaving room for the unexpected, inspiration and divine intervention that is inevitably coming your way.

After all, the universe has bigger plans for you than your little human brain could ever dream of for yourself.

So yes, faith and luck do play a large role in many business success stories.

But you have to keep moving forward.

See, much of my success in business development, entrepreneurship, podcasting, coaching and community building has come from my ability to keep up my momentum week over week, month over month, and yes, year over year.

Now what the heck is this elusive momentum anyways?

We hear people talk about it all the time.

You just need momentum.

Turns out finding a definition for momentum in business is actually challenging.

But I did manage to track down from medium.com the elusive concept of business momentum.

Article what does it Mean?

According to the article, momentum describes the phenomena observed when a business hits a run of success or good luck.

It represents a level at which a company operates when its brand, products, and market demand are flying high.

Everything the business tries seems to come off, and even when it hits minor snags, it just can't seem to be stopped.

Now, while I think that's a decent definition, I would argue it's actually much, much simpler.

To me, momentum is simply forward motion.

It is the act of stacking accomplishments, both small and significant, in a consistent manner.

The secret to building and keeping momentum is simply consistently performing and completing tasks that move both you and your business forward.

Week after week.

Over time, these completed tasks, both large and small, stack up compound.

And from the outside, it can look like magic or luck.

But all high performers know the truth.

The act of consistently making progress on the tasks that matter most is what builds and keeps momentum.

All of these like success stories that you guys see on the Internet where it looks like you have an overnight success, right?

Literally 99% of the time.

What you don't see is all of the hard, consistent work that happened behind the scenes to make it happen.

You can even look at this show under three years.

We're at 303 episodes.

I have so many people that are blown away when they hear how many episodes we have in such a short period of time and that I've Never once had to repeat an episode.

That every single episode of the business development podcast to date is a brand new episode and it absolutely blows people's minds.

But all it took was showing up to this mike week over week, month over month, year over year.

In the beginning of this show, I committed to two episodes a week, come hell or high water.

And yes, I feel like I've gone through both.

And that show still gets produced every single week, twice a week.

It just takes consistency and like, while we're using this podcast as an example, this applies to every aspect of your life.

If you're looking to grow your business, all you have to do is make consistent sales calls every single week, identify the right companies to reach out to you, and reach out to them once per week until you either disqualify or get the meeting.

If you do that every single week, you will consistently book meetings.

And if you consistently book meetings, you will close business.

No question.

It is simply doing the tasks that matter week over week, consistently over time, come hell or high water.

If you can commit to something like that, you will win.

There's absolutely no question about it.

Like I said, guys, on this very show, we surpassed 300 episodes in under three years.

We've interviewed close to 200 experts, with over 150 of those expert guest interviews released at this point.

We've won four major awards and have been recognized as a top show by Million Podcasts, Quill Inc. Signal Awards, W3 Awards, and Feedspot, just to name a few.

We've built the Catalyst Club into a leadership support community that I am deeply proud of.

And in 2026, well, my crystal ball is very broken, as I always let you know.

But I have no plans to slow down and so the momentum is just gonna keep on rolling.

So for this very special New Year's episode, I wanna set you guys all up for success in 2026 with some powerful momentum building tips and tricks that will move the needle for you and your business if you simply adopt them.

Number one, the same thing I said I'm gonna do this very weekend.

Write out a goals list for 2026.

Now grab a pen and paper.

Yes, it must be a pen and paper.

There is something about physically writing something down that does the brain connection thing that just makes it work.

You have to write it down.

It doesn't work if you type it.

It doesn't work if you enter it in a digital way or a voice memo.

You have to write it down.

So for this exercise, grab yourself a pen and a paper and write yourself out a goals list for 2026, what you want to do.

Like I said, grab a pen and paper and list out between 15 and 20 goals that you would like to accomplish in 2026 that would have a massive effect on you, your business and your life.

These can and should be both business and personal goals.

Guys, there is no work life balance.

If there's one thing that we know we have disproven on this show, it's that work life balance is total bullshit.

What you need to aim for is work life coherence.

Right?

Coherence.

How do we get them to work together?

Because, listen, if things are going bad at home, guess what?

They're going to be going bad at work.

If they're going bad at work, of course it's going to be going bad at home too.

It's very hard to live two different lives.

So what you need to aim for is coherence.

So if we're aiming for coherence, we have to make sure that that our goals are both personal and professional.

Now, what else is really cool is there is additional science behind writing your goals down.

In 2007, there was a study conducted by Dr. Gail Matthews at the Dominican University of California that found simply writing down your goals can increase your likelihood of achieving them by as much as 42%.

I don't know about you guys, but if I can stack the odds in my favor, I am going to do it.

So simply writing down these goals, guys, 42% more likely to achieve them.

And that number actually rises significantly if you throw in public accountability.

We actually practice this week to week inside the Catalyst Club.

People will go in on Monday and they will list out the move the needle list for the week, right?

The top five or six things that would move the needle for you and your business.

Each week.

They write them down, they share them in Catalyst Club, and we hold each other accountable.

And that accountability actually can increase your odds of success by up to 70%.

It is absolutely massive, absolutely powerful.

Do not underestimate the power of writing your goals down not just annually, but every single week with something like the move the needle list.

Okay, Number two.

Start the year by completing one thing that you have been putting off.

Clearing a lingering task instantly restores energy and confidence.

I call this the small win.

It's a small win, but it's actually a big win.

Just take something that has been unfinished and it can be anything.

It can be a personal unfinished goal.

It can be something with work.

It can be something that you've been putting off around the house.

Just find something that you have been putting off and knock it out.

Get it done.

That small win will catapult you into 2026 with accomplishment.

And accomplishment leads to more accomplishment.

That momentum.

It is absolutely powerful.

Find something that you have been putting off and just get it done.

Get it done quickly.

Number three, Implement my weekly move the needle framework as a non negotiable in 2026.

If you are unfamiliar with my move the needle framework, I have an episode called Move the Needle.

So go back.

Listen to the move the needle episode.

It will help you.

Each week I want you to write out between five and 10 tasks that if you completed them would move you and your business forward.

Prioritize these tasks and work to complete two or more every single week.

Now remember, these are the tasks that will have the greatest effect on for both you and your business.

Yes, there's probably four or five big things that if you did them every single week, would move you and your business forward.

But you don't always get around to them.

Why?

Because you get all of these other tasks, meaningless tasks, time wasting tasks taking your time.

Right?

If we can turn our focus to those four to five move the needle tasks each week and even if we only accomplish one or two of them, the effect is absolutely massive.

Ask yourself this what would 100 plus completed move the needle tasks do for you over one year?

Try it.

I think you will absolutely be blown away and I see it.

Work week over week inside Catalyst Club guys.

Number four, Commit to consistency over intensity.

Remember, momentum is built by showing up repeatedly, not by short bursts of extreme effort.

Even though short bursts of extreme effort can have major effects, usually the effects are temporary.

The long term powerful effects come from small consistent actions over time.

Small actions done weekly outperform big pushes that are unsustainable.

Number five, Build repeatable weekly processes, not random weekly tasks.

Tasks change.

Processes always endure.

When your week has a rhythm, momentum becomes automatic instead of something that you have to will into existence.

The human mind loves processes, loves repeatable processes.

Put them to action for yourself.

Number six, Reduce your priorities and focus on fewer high impact tasks.

Momentum dies when everything feels urgent.

Narrow your focus to what matters so your energy goes to actions that actually change outcomes for you.

Number seven, Track progress and small wins every single week.

Progress creates motivation.

When you see movement, even small movement, your belief increases and momentum accelerates.

Number eight, Launch something early in the year.

Momentum loves creation.

Put a new offer, service, project, content, series, partnership idea or community initiative into the world before you feel fully ready.

It forces action, creates fast feedback, and gives you something real to build momentum around.

Instead of waiting for the perfect plan, everything changes the moment you bring something real into the world.

Number nine Schedule everything important and protect your calendar with your life.

If it's not scheduled, it's not real.

Put your priorities onto the calendar.

First workouts, family time, deep work, outreach, content, planning, rest and reflection, and defend those blocks relentlessly.

If you don't schedule what is important, the urgent will always steal your week.

Your calendar should reflect priorities, not distractions.

Spring ahead while others pause.

Momentum is built in the quiet seasons while others stop releasing, stop planning, stop moving, stay in motion, downshift if you need to.

But keep building, keep scheduling, and keep setting your future up.

When the year finally starts for everyone else, you're not starting.

You're already full throttle.

And with that, everyone, 2026 is just 24 hours away.

And I want to end today's episode by wishing everybody an absolutely happy New Year.

Thanks for joining me on this wild journey.

And together, let's make 2026 our best year yet.

I truly believe this, guys.

I wrote it down because I needed the reminder myself.

2026 is not just another year on the calendar.

It's a fresh start, a new chapter, another opportunity to change the world.

But momentum doesn't happen by accident.

It happens when you stay connected week after week with the right people and the right conversations.

That's exactly why I built the Catalyst Club.

It's a place to keep that weekly momentum moving, to stay consistent, accountable and surrounded by people who are actually building.

No posturing, no noise, just leaders supporting leaders and showing up every week.

And if you are ready to go even deeper, my Business Development Mastery Accelerator kicks off on January 20th.

It's designed to help you build real systems, real confidence and real momentum in your business development for 2026 and beyond.

If you have any questions, just reach out directly to me on LinkedIn.

I'm always happy to chat with fellow rock stars.

You can learn more about all of my programs@www.kelly kennedyofficial.com and with that, look out, 2026, here we come.

We'll catch you on the flip side.

This has been the Business Development Podcast with Kelly Kennedy.

Kelly has 15 years in sales and business development experience within the Alberta oil and gas industry and founded his own business development firm in 2020.

His passion and his specialization is in customer relationship generation and business development.

The show is brought to you by Capital Business Development, your business development specialists.

For more, we invite you to the website at www.capitalbd.ca.

see you next time on the business development podcast.

Sam.