Inertia

Inertia… the tendency of something unmoving to remain unmoving.

Inertia is a scientific (physics) term… but metaphorically it applies to our psychology as well.   In other words,  when we have a habit of being sedentary, we tend to stay sedentary…  and to change to an active lifestyle requires a big effort in the beginning.

Sad to say… but over the past 4 years I’ve become more sedentary than at any time in my life previously.   The process of launching and growing my online business served as a convenient excuse for spending hours and hours in front of a computer screen.   Gradually I spent more and more time in my apartment… less and less time outdoors.

Maybe it was necessary… though probably not.    Regardless,  this year I realized that I was spending most of the hours of my day sitting on my ass…. staring at screens (computer, DVDs…).

I decided to change that.

And… because I know the power of inertia,… I knew that small gradual actions would likely fail.    I knew that I needed MASSIVE action.

And that’s how the Shikoku hiking trip was born.  I was sitting in a coffee shop, thinking about my sedentary life…  and the idea to do an outdoor challenge came to my mind.  I remembered the Shikoku 88 Temples route.. and immediately decided to hike the whole 650 mile route–  not next year, but in just a few months.

What’s more, I also know that there’s a danger that I’ll finish that big hike and immediately relax back into a more lazy life.  And so, I have decided to do a bicycle tour of northern Italy in the Spring.   And after that?   Probably a 1-2 month hiking trip in Patagonia.

What I’m doing is trying to build momentum.  Because the second part of the “law” of inertia is that objects in motion tend to stay in motion.   In other words,… once we do establish a vibrant, active lifestyle… we tend to keep it.

Put another way… it takes a lot of energy to change… but once you make the change… it takes much less effort to sustain it.

So my strategy is to be SUPER-active for the next 12 months…  stacking one tough, physical, outdoor challenge on top of another… until an extremely high level of activity and energy becomes my normal default lifestyle.

This is the best way to transform your life… in any area:  business, finance, relationships, health, fitness, etc..

If you are in a rut…  and have been for a long time… then small steps probably won’t be enough to break your old pattern.  You probably need some powerful, massive actions…  BIG massive changes at the beginning.

Once you break the old pattern,… and establish a new one… it’ll take much less effort to keep it

Good luck to you… whatever you hope to achieve.

Just get out there and live my friends!!