Defeating Inertia

Have you ever had bouts of inertia? Was it a good thing or bad thing? I’m sure that all of us have experienced periods of inertia. Some perhaps for long periods of time and some for short periods. Kind of like procrastination.

Inertia, according to the Macquarie Concise Dictionary is 1) inert condition; inactivity; sluggishness. 2) the tendency of matter to retain its state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight line.

So inertia while sleeping is probably good for you, but inertia in waking or working moments is probably not, I’m guessing

So how do we, as people, go from being inert to “ert” (I made that word up…seemed to fit) or active? The good news is that once active the rules of inertia take over and we can stay active. Some times an external force can change the state of inertia. Something like your boss, spouse, parents or someone important to you telling you to do something or else. But I’m more interested in how we can do it ourselves.

Here are some steps that may help the inerts become ert.

Start Small – take small steps which you then begin to build on each other. For example if you want to go on a healthy diet try giving up one unhealthy eating habit and replacing it with one healthy habit rather then changing your entire eating habits at once. The next week you can repeat the process with another unhealthy eating habit. Repeat the steps until you get to your goal. How about exercise? Why not start out with 5 minutes a day and then add a couple of minutes to it each day or week until you get to your target exercise regime. By taking small steps you actual trick your mind into sneaking outside of your comfort zone.

Go Big – some people would rather go all out and shock their brain into accepting activity by forcing it into submission by going big rather than starting small. In this approach you might set aside an hour a day to exercise so that your day fits around your exercise schedule rather then fitting it into available time. You go on a prescribed diet that radically changes your eating habits rather than doing it gradually.

Shared Accountability – either approach that you take will have better results if you have someone, other than yourself, to whom your are accountable for actions.  The way this works is that you meet with this person on a regular basis to discuss what you accomplished since the last meeting and what you plan on accomplishing. They may even share their activities with you so that you are supporting each other.

Whether you start small or you start big, the point is to start and get moving. As the saying goes, “A journey of 1,000 steps starts with one step.”

So let’s getting moving..