Inertia
The law of inertia states that a body in motion stays in motion and a body at rest stays at rest unless acted upon by another force. As a practicing arborist I see this play out all of the time in rigging scenarios ,when dropping large branches and felling trees. This law describes the physical world in which we live. We see it play out in every single object in motion every day without fail. That is what makes it a law. I think we can apply the law of inertia to our goals and habits as well.
Let us take a look at motion and rest and how it pertains to our lives.. I have noticed when we are in stillness it can be hard for us to get moving but once moving its easier to stay that way. Think about trying to get to the gym or start a new project. That first step can seem like a mountain to climb over. How about just trying to get out of bed in the morning? Hitting snooze again and again. We know that if we just pop up and get moving our morning is under way and things get easier as we build momentum . We must exert the force of our will to get moving. By exercising our will with discipline these habits get easier . Jocko Willink retired Navy SEAL and host of Jocko podcast says “discipline equals freedom” , he is correct. It is also force multiplier in terms on motion. Once we are in motion it is much easier to stay in this state of moving, I have observed this law play itself out in my own life time and again . For example the last few months our tree production crew has been working steadily and I have been participating in field operations. We have not lost many days in the last three months due to weather. I have felt on top of my game ,energized and with each new day ready to take on the physical challenges of production tree work. More recently however, the weather patterns have changed and we have lost a couple of days a week. I now feel sluggish and find myself sort of hoping for some morning rain so that I can enjoy the off time. A body at rest stays at rest, a body in motion stays in motion. Have you ever felt this with your gym routine? When you are on a roll and making gains you feel unstoppable. The opposite is true if we miss a day though. Spooling your energy back up to get moving seems a tall order. We are quite literally fighting the law of inertia.
The law of inertia also applies to new ideas. Often we have an idea we want to roll out but think its not perfect or the timing isn’t right . So we sit on it. The longer we wait the harder it becomes to get that idea moving and get traction. We begin to procrastinate and instead of moving we sit idle. We need to be aware that to get this law to work in our favor we must apply the force needed to set the body, or in this case idea , moving. At times like this a rolling start is a good idea. Do not wait for perfection. Perfection is the enemy to starting. Get the idea off the ground and moving even with its flaws. It is much easier to change the direction of something once its moving than to start it from a static position . By getting started and adjusting on the fly we are using the law of inertia to our favor.
In summary I would say, make observations in your own life as to where and when this principle shows up. When we become aware it will help us leverage the law of inertia to our benefit. Practice taking small steps toward motion and see if it becomes easier to keep things flowing. As always be patient with yourself and stay after it.
