Inertia

Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there. – Will Rogers

Dictionary.com defines inertia as the property of matter by which it retains its state of rest or its velocity along a straight line so long as it is not acted upon by an external force, also known as one of the three big laws of physics – an object in motion tends to stay in motion, an object at rest tends to stay at rest. It’s also, human-ly speaking, the force that makes you want to keep your butt in your chair once you got it there. It’s why it’s that much more difficult to get up and do the dishes after you’ve sat down. “I’ll do them later” is a whole lot tougher than “Let’s get it done now”.

There’s a way to beat inertia at its own game, though. You get started. And once you’re started, you are now “in motion”. And it feels good, and you figure “I may as well wipe off the counter tops since I just did the dishes. It won’t take long.” Getting out of the chair and away from the TV or computer to wipe down the counter tops is difficult. Wiping off the counter tops when you’re standing there having just finished the dishes is much easier.

And it works for dreams, too. You can stall on a dream and let it stagnate, and the longer you go without making a move, the harder it is to take the next step. But, if you work on it, even a little, every day, then it’s weird, even hard, to go a day without doing something about your dream. Exercising is the same way. It’s a lot harder to exercise the first day of your routine than it is the second.

The big thing about the “every day” things is that you don’t bite off more than you can chew. Don’t swear to jog three miles every day when you know that you’re going to Grandma’s on Saturday and won’t have the time. Better that you promise yourself you’re going to walk or jog every day, three miles when you have the time and the weather cooperates, around the block if you don’t. Or if you can’t go outside, find some inside thing you can do to keep up the habit of exercising every day. That’s the key – don’t make the habit “jog three miles”; make the habit “exercise”. That way, you keep the habit going.

And if you do skip a day, don’t beat yourself up. Just pick yourself back up and get back to the habit. One cigarette after three months smoke-free doesn’t mean that you can never quit. It means you had a cigarette. Go back to being a non-smoker as soon as you stub it out. One piece of cake does not break a diet. Throwing out all your healthy eating habits because of one piece of cake will break a diet. And why are you on a diet that doesn’t allow cake? Moderation over deprivation.

Put yourself in motion towards your dream, and make it a habit to move in that direction every day, even if it’s just a little bit, even if it’s just thinking very hard about it for five minutes. Make inertia work for you, and you will create your Future.