We all have inertia. You have it right now. Last week I introduced the mathematical equation for momentum (in layman’s terms and for conceptual purposes it’s basically the amount of weight of an object times the object’s speed travelling in a certain direction) and how that equation really makes sense when applied to our progress on our goals. In looking further, I noticed some applications to all of Newton’s laws of motion and promised to share some more deep thoughts with you all throughout the month.
So here is Newton’s First Law of Motion broken down into “Coach’s First Law of Goal Progression”.
The Science Lesson
Newton’s first law is also called the Law of Inertia. We defined via Google last week that inertia is “a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged” or “a property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless that state is changed by an external force.” For conceptual forces, let’s remember that gravity is a force pulling all objects toward the earth. If I apply a force to a ball and throw it up in the air on the moon, what happens? It keeps going in the direction I tossed it, right? Or it mostly does because the moon has very little gravitational pull compared to earth. The ball has inertia while it’s in motion and will keep travelling at that same speed in that same direction forever until some force stops it. Think of all the outer space movies you see where the hero astronaut saves the rest of the team but ends up drifting off indefinitely in their space suit. Okay that was grim, but still an example of an object having inertia and being in constant motion until some other force is applied.
Let’s go back to the ball and think on happier times. If I toss that same ball on Earth, the earth’s gravity exerts a force on that ball in the opposite direction that I tossed it so the ball slows down, changes direction, and starts coming right back toward me due to the force applied to it. Now if I had rocket booster strength, my original tossing force might be strong enough to over the gravitational force and keep that ball headed in the direction I tossed it until it hits space and just keeps on truckin’.
WHAT does this have to do with me, Coach?
Isn’t that such an accurate description of our lives? Inertia is not wanting to get off the couch in the evening to do the dishes. Inertia is not wanting to get out of my warm spot in the bed on a cold winter morning. Inertia is my continued state of just staring at my screen and not writing this blog post. But since you just read that sentence, I must have somehow overcome inertia. Somehow I found the gumption to overcome my tendency to remain on the path I was on and move to a different path.
This is such a simple thought and yet has such profound application to our lives.
How many times do we desire to see change in our lives but don’t actually take steps to bring about that change? Somehow we keep thinking our goals will magically be accomplished while we continue to watch Game of Thrones. Without any external force or gumption being applied, you will continue doing whatever it is you are doing now. In order to make progress on our goals, we first have to start working on our goals – we have to overcome inertia.
How much force will it take?
The force needed to move forward on our goals is entirely dependent upon the direction we want to go and what other forces are involved.
Wouldn’t it be great if our lives were “outer space” easy and just a slight twitch of a muscle could send us off hurdling toward the realization of our goals? Unfortunately, we live lives filled with outside forces pulling us in many directions. It seems like the Fear Force is the biggest force out there and it comes in many shapes and sizes. The Fear of Failure force might convince us to play it safe and not risk embarrassing ourselves trying something new. The Fear of Worthiness might be telling us that we really don’t deserve to achieve anything or have success. The Fear of Pain might be keeping us from experiencing any love or joy or happiness just in case we might get hurt in the process. Or here’s a good one: the Fear of Missing Out where you want to do a little of everything and not miss any experience so you can’t focus on moving forward on any experience either.
Fear is such a powerful force.
But fear is just an emotion, y’all. That’s it. Emotions can’t hurt you unless you allow them to. You have your own rocket booster force inside of you called the Brain Force that can overcome the Fear Forces holding you in your inertia state.
How do you boost your Brain Force? First you need to decide what you REALLY want for you future. Do you want your future to be “Game of Thrones Junkie” (which is not necessarily that bad as I count the days for the next season to start) or do you have other aspirations? A good exercise I like to run through in my head is to consider what I’d like my legacy to be or what I’d like my tombstone to say. If Game of Thrones deserves a place there, then problem solved! I’m already on the path to success! But if “Author of 7 books” is on the legacy list….and I haven’t started the Table of Contents on the first book yet…then perhaps I need to make a change.
If that seems impossible to do, then start small. I like to think of Bob Wiley in the Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss movie What About Bob?. This comedy deals with Bob, a “name it”-phobic (he’s afraid of everything) who goes to see a therapist for help. The therapist presents him with his new book called Baby Steps which encourages people to overcome their fears or challenges by making small changes every day until they see the result they want. Watch the video just to get a kick out of Bill Murray’s antics (Warning: there is some language in this particular montage of movie scenes - I believe he is experiencing Tourette's Syndrome symptoms in that snippet.). He goes from a total lack of progress in life to living life to its fullest by applying the Doctor's principles...and also integrating himself into his Doctor's life uninvited as only Bill Murray can do. Ha!
In reality, though, how do you get started? It starts with those small adjustments in your thinking and acting. If the Fear of Failure force is what you need to overcome, perhaps start by making a list of “the worst things” that could happen if you tried….and then compare that with the disappointment of never having tried to achieve your goal in the first place. Which is really worse?
If Fear of Worthiness is holding you back, let me tell you that every one of God’s creation is worthy. If you have trouble believing that, call me and set up an appointment because we need to straighten that out. You are so worthy.
Are you afraid of pain? Are you “buffering” to keep from feeling hurt? Feeling hurt is just an emotion, y’all. My mentor coach, Brooke Castillo – she’s amazing y’all –has developed a coaching model that I use in my practice which teaches us to identify the indisputable circumstances in our life, then determine what your thoughts are about that circumstance. Your thoughts about it will determine what your feelings will be, what actions you will take, and what your results will be. So what thoughts are you thinking about your circumstances that are causing you to either feel hurt or be afraid of hurting? Life is a mixture of good and bad experiences. And don’t those bad experiences make you appreciate the good ones so much more? So don’t avoid taking action just to escape the possibility of pain or hurting. What will the end result be? A life unlived because you were afraid to feel? What happiness are you missing out on because you were afraid to feel a little bit of pain on the journey?
So take those baby steps, break that goal down into a first step, then a second step, modify your thoughts about your circumstances until you’re engine is revved up and you’re moving down the road, destination SUCCESS!
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