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- Movement Creates Momentum
Movement Creates Momentum
Daily deposits, compound interest & why you’re like the stock market
Tiffany Chao
February 05, 2025 • Read Time: 6 minutes
“Rule of thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the (more) resistance we will feel toward pursuing it. Resistance is by definition, self-sabotage.
…Our job in this lifetime is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it.”
If you’ve ever set out to create something meaningful, you’ve likely run up on some resistance. It shows up for me like procrastination, or the worst offender: the belief that I’m not ready.
But here’s the thing: resistance isn’t a stop sign. It’s a signal that you’re moving in the right direction.
Ever since hosting my first Vision Workshop last month, I’ve been thinking about the practices that actually work when it comes to bringing our visions to life.
There’s a small but overlooked truth: transformation happens through the tiny, consistent efforts we make every day—not in big, sweeping gestures. In other words: movement creates momentum.
When I first started Interlude, the OG concept was a creative container for expression. I wanted to do it all — visuals, choreography, collaborate with artists — but the vision felt distant, especially since I was just getting back into dance after a long break. I was also getting comfortable and experimenting with my creativity (still am), which added another layer of resistance. I told myself that the first step was to commit to creating. Choreograph once a day. Teach once a month. These weren’t grand gestures, but they were daily deposits into my bigger vision. Slowly, those small commitments built momentum—not just for my creative practice, but for the new direction Interlude is now taking.
If there’s anything I’m learning as I build Interlude 2.0, it’s that clarity comes through action—and the only way to sustain momentum is through small, imperfect, and messy—yet inspired—steps.
Daily Deposits & Compound Interest
The thing about a vision is that we get so enamored by the allure of a sexy, aesthetic mood board — the big ideas, the dreams and the fantasies — that we forget the micro-steps that actually bring it to life.
Momentum doesn’t come from dreaming about the goal. It comes from the small, daily actions that move us toward it.
To sustain that momentum, I started reframing my daily efforts as daily deposits—an investment into self. Instead of seeing these actions as things I had to do, I looked at them as putting money into my personal stock portfolio. The more resistance I felt toward an action, the higher the value I assigned to it.
This mindset has been crucial as I’ve been evolving Interlude 2.0. I’m a big picture thinker so the ideas can sometimes feel almost too expansive. But I remind myself: small deposits, every day. Instead of trying to solve everything at once, I focus on refining one framework, testing one concept, hosting one workshop at a time.
Like investing, these deposits compound over time. The more we invest in ourselves, the greater the return. Instead of fixating on the big goal, the focus shifts to micro-moments that build toward something bigger.
For me, the work is in having faith that these small acts will accumulate and expand over time.
Why You’re Like the Stock Market
Whether you invest or not, the market is constantly moving. No one can ever predict when things will go up or down. You might have a sense based on broader economic trends, but the truth is that no one really ever knows. The best advice I ever received with investing is to save consistently, invest always, and don’t check the markets daily. There’s no quick win. Wealth is built over time through steady, intentional deposits.
And that’s exactly how we should think about investing in ourselves and our visions.
If we obsess over daily progress, we’ll feel stuck—because like the stock market, personal growth fluctuates and isn’t linear. The only thing you can control is making consistent deposits into self.
Keep showing up. Keep building.
Excerpt from the book Rework by the founders of Basecamp
Before You Think This Has No Relation to Creativity…
Creative growth works the same way.
We often think inspiration is something we have to wait for—but just like investing, the key is consistent action, not timing the market.
Matisse said it best: “Don’t wait for inspiration. It comes while working.”
Momentum isn’t something you find. It’s something you actively create. The more you show up, the easier it becomes and sooner or later you’ll find your creative flow. Almost always, the answers you’re looking for are hidden in the work you’ve been avoiding.
Before you know it, you’ll look back and check your portfolio to see that your stock price has gone up.
x
Tiffany
Join me for these upcoming workshops
Sunday, 2/9 MOVES - a feel good, open level movement class for the soul. We’re dancing to Maxwell this month :)
Friday, 2/21 MOVES - Power & Presence - a sensuality & confidence class where the focus is on posture, power & presence. Minimal choreography.
Saturday, 2/22 Monthly Vision Workshop (Virtual) - a vision planning workshop where we’ll go over new methods on how to create a growth plan and design the life you desire. Subscribers get complementary access so reply to this email if you’d like to join!
Books I’m reading:
Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans
Internet Finds:
This essay by the founders of Basecamp on entrepreneurship