ThinkAdvisor- How Top Advisors Build Momentum

Every successful practice begins with a cold start.

I grew up on the northern edge of the Great Plains. Winters in North Dakota weren’t just cold — they were brutal. It was the kind of cold where you could throw a pot of boiling water into the January air and watch it crystallize before it hit the ground. Forty below, wind cutting through you, and a daily question hanging over your head: Will the car start today?

You never really knew. Engines froze solid. Fuel lines froze too, choking out the very thing that was supposed to spark life. That’s why people plugged in block heaters, hoping to keep engines just warm enough to have a fighting chance. Sometimes you’d turn the key and pray that the engine would turn over, because once it did, you had something priceless: momentum.

That’s what building a thriving advisory practice feels like. Your first client meeting. Your first referral. Your first million in assets under management. The initial spark takes faith. The first conversation takes persistence. And once things start moving, it becomes easier to keep them moving — but never effortless.

Here’s what I realized recently: Inside the word momentum is another word — moment.

That isn’t just a coincidence. In Latin, momentum meant both “movement” and “a brief instant.” A moment of weight that tips the balance. In Greek, the word was kinesis — motion, change, transformation. It’s where we get “kinetic energy.” Momentum isn’t just movement; it is energy stored and released. It’s the frozen fuel line finally opening, the engine firing, the practice rolling forward.

The Moments That Matter Most

The advisors I know who’ve built truly unstoppable practices understand that momentum isn’t one giant leap. It’s stitched together from moments. The uncomfortable prospecting calls. The client who finally says yes. The market downturn conversation that deepens trust instead of breaking it. The referral that comes from a relationship you nurtured for months.

If you ignore these moments, you miss the entire story of how successful practices are actually built.

Think about your best clients. I’ll bet their relationships didn’t start with a grand gesture or a perfect presentation. They started with a moment — maybe a question you asked that no one else had asked, or how you handled their concern during market volatility, or simply the way you remembered their daughter’s college plans six months later.

These moments compound. The clients who trust you with their retirement planning introduce you to their business partner. That introduction leads to managing their company’s 401(k). That relationship opens doors to three more business owners. Suddenly, what felt like slow progress becomes exponential growth.

Beyond the Client Moments

It’s not just about client acquisition. Your team experiences moments too — the associate who finally grasps a complex concept, the difficult conversation that clears the air, the celebration after closing a challenging case. These moments shape your culture, and culture shapes everything else.

As leaders in this industry, our job is to recognize these moments when they happen. To call them out. To honor them. Because when you acknowledge the moments that matter, you’re not just building a business — you’re building momentum that becomes self-sustaining.

The Monday Morning Reality

So here’s what this means for your practice: Start paying attention to the moments. When prospects ask the question that tells you they’re ready to move forward, recognize it. When a client refers someone, don’t just send a thank you note — acknowledge the trust that referral represents. When team members go above and beyond, make sure they know you noticed.

Stack enough of these moments together, and you won’t just move forward — you’ll move with kinetic energy. You’ll change lives, build generational wealth for families and create the kind of practice that runs on momentum instead of constant effort.

The car always starts easier the second time. Your practice will too.

Jud Mackrill is CEO and co-founder of Milemarker, which helps wealth management firms unify data, streamline operations and build firmwide intelligence.