A few months ago, I had a friend who’s car would not start while he was visiting me at my house. Fortunately it was a stick shift… and anyone who has driven one of these knows what it means to ‘pop’ start it when the battery is dead. For those who have not had the pleasure, it involves pushing the vehicle with the clutch down, and then ‘popping’ the clutch into 2nd gear. If done properly, a manual transmission car will start this way regardless of the condition of the battery or starter.

There have been many times in my life where I have felt like that car… where my battery was dead and my life just wasn’t moving. I wasn’t getting anywhere, at least not as fast as I wanted to. In business…particularly with startups, it can be equally frustrating trying to find someone to help push when we’re stalled, and we’re not always fortunate enough to be parked on a hill with the nose pointing the right direction.

That day when pushing my friend’s car, we actually had to go back and forth several times… unable to get up enough speed or get the timing right when releasing the clutch in order for the car to actually start. We were both getting really frustrated with each other, me sweating on the back of the car, exhausted after pushing it up and down my street… he unable to ‘get it right’.

One thing about pushing a car is that you exert the most amount of force when you first begin to get the wheels turning on the pavement.  Once the car starts moving… Momentum naturally takes some of the effort away from you, and makes continuing to push the car easier as you go, but man… getting that car to start moving sure takes a lot out of you, particularly if you have to do it over and over again! This same principal is also why it is so difficult to change the direction of a large ship, but that is another article.

Relief finally came when a couple of my neighbors saw what we were doing, and offered to help push. It still took several attempts before my friend was able to time the clutch release right… but things got much easier when we finally had some help.

Something that I’ve noticed about people, is that most of them don’t like to be the ones pushing the car when it doesn’t start. Most people want to be the guy releasing the clutch, or preferably would rather wait until after the car is already started before getting in and going for a ride.

This is true with startups too… when showing your plan to investors, bankers, and other potential team members… people like to be involved in something that is already moving, and very few of them want to push a parked or stalled car. Unfortunately, it always seems that it is at this moment when the most energy is required to get things moving that your greatest need for help exists.

Another thing about momentum is that it seems to attract the attention of others when they do see that something is moving. Had my friend and I not spent the time and effort pushing his car… no-one would have noticed that it was stalled, and no-one would have offered to help. Once people can actually ’see’ what it is that you are doing… many times it is easier for them to understand and relate to it, and then maybe even get involved.

My challenge to you, is to ‘get moving’… if you’ve been stuck in park… or your car has stalled, try to find small things that you can do every day to cause motion and gain momentum. I’m not talking about movement for the sake of movement… after all, what good would it do to push a stalled car sideways from the driver’s side door, or backwards from the hood? I’m talking about any intentional motion in a direction that helps you to achieve your goal. If you’re waiting around for someone to get involved, or waiting for something to ‘happen’ before getting started… stop waiting, and get moving. Use momentum as one of your greatest assets.