The 'Oomph' Factor

In physics, escape velocity is the speed needed to “break free” from a gravitational field without further propulsion. In life, escape velocity can be that final oomph you need to break out of a rut. Ruts can be as simple as getting up a half hour earlier to exercise, or making a promise to get to bed by a certain hour. Call it the Oomph Factor.

A friend recently raised the concept of escape velocity in life as part of The Artist’s Way, a program to reclaim your creativity. Impeding our escape velocity, the book suggests, is a “test” that threatens to keep you from realizing your dreams. One test, for instance, could be a boss giving you a five percent raise in a job you hate.

But what if that raise means different responsibilities, one that eventually leads you closer to your dream? Ultimately: what if the negativity and intolerance you struggled with was entirely yours? The Artist's Way calls that doubt your censor. I call it the anti-Oomph Factor.

Want a great example of giving that censor the oomph you need to move forward? Consider the Billy Crystal character, Mitch, at the end of the 1991 gem City Slickers. After he returns home from his adventures West, his wife encourages him to leave his long-despised job. But Mitch doesn’t want to; he wants to do his job better. He wants to do everything better. Mitch got in touch with his Oomph Factor (spoiler alert!) rescuing Norman from ending up on someone’s dinner table (or—-yikes-—drowned in that river).

So, what if that gut sign to leave is actually a gut sign to do something…different? Maybe even stay and get your Oomph on? ;) Who knows where an unexpected opportunity could lead?