Momentum is a choice

It is hard to talk about momentum being a choice and not think about my life. Not just my life. The life of so many people I know.

You go to school. You think when you get your bachelor's degree, life will be different. You get the degree. And then there is always something more. You can rest on your laurels or you can keep moving.

You work for a while. You ask yourself what is pushing you. Can you get a PhD? Should you?

The thing about momentum is this: Before you reach an inflection point, you think you will rest when you get there. But when you arrive, something keeps you moving. Something just keeps you moving.

Now it is the age of AI. And you realize you need that momentum more than ever. If not, you're out of a job. If not, you're unemployable. If not, you have nothing to offer.

There are days you have interviews. Days you search for jobs. I see people on LinkedIn posting that they've applied to over 500 jobs. And what's keeping them going is momentum. They're choosing not to stop.

But is it really a choice?

For some of us, stopping was never an option. The momentum isn't something we picked. It is something we needed to survive.

Maybe calling it a choice is generous. Or maybe the choice is simply this: you keep moving, or you disappear.