Take a look at your games. Look at the orders you have placed. Are they filled with hold and support orders?

The key to gaining momentum quickly is to...wait for it...move! Units that are holding aren't building momentum. Units that are supporting aren't building momentum. Only units that are moving build momentum. Maybe this seems elementary, but really, go look at your games and see whether or not your units were moving.

Ok, did you go look?

Really...take time right now to go see for yourself...

Ok, now that you have looked at your moves maybe you see that a lot of the time your units were simply sitting around doing nothing.

"But Jacob," you say, "my units weren't doing nothing. They were performing vital hold and support tasks. Without those orders I wouldn't have gained the territories I gained and I would have lost some territories that I was able to keep instead!"

Let me answer this claim by examining the game of chess for a moment. Oftentimes in chess a piece of lesser value will threaten a piece of greater value. Consider a pawn advancing to threaten a knight. Many times a player might respond by simply moving the threatened piece to safety. When you do that though, you might as well have never moved the knight there in the first place! Momentum is now gone.

Now what if instead of moving the knight to safety the player was able to move their bishop to threaten the opponents queen or king? Now the knight's move was not wasted. Momentum and efficiency have both been preserved.

Here are some ways this principle can be used in diplomacy:
-get other people to do your supporting for you
-when faced with a choice between protecting a center or gaining a new one, gain the new one! (maybe your opponent won't take your center)
-take the time to analyze your opponents position. You don't need to waste a unit's move supporting another unit if you know where your opponent is going.

The sooner your orders are filled with moves the sooner you will see victory within your grasp.