Inertia
Inertia is the stubborn resistance of the universe to change. It’s why objects at rest tend to stay at rest, and objects in motion tend to stay in motion. You can think of inertia as the guardian of the status quo.
At its core, inertia is a property of mass. The more massive an object is, the more it resists changes to its state of motion. A feather, with its tiny mass, is easily blown about by the slightest breeze. A boulder, on the other hand, requires a powerful force to get it moving. This is why it takes more effort to push a heavy cart than a light one, more energy to launch a rocket than to toss a ball.
But inertia isn’t just a physical phenomenon. It’s an illuminating lens to see habits, beliefs, and our resistance to change. The longer we’ve held them, the larger the mass and the more force required to change them. The path of least resistance is always the status quo.
Getting started is the hardest part. Once something moves in a direction, keeping it in motion is much easier. But once something is in motion, it’s hard to stop. This is why most self-help books about positive habits break things down into very small steps—to reduce the force required to overcome the status quo. For example, if you want to get in the habit of doing push-ups daily, start with one rather than fifty. If you want to start a flossing habit, start with one tooth. After all, the bigger the mass—in this case, the gap between where you are and where you want to be— the more effort required.
Inertia is both a challenge and an opportunity. Successful companies struggle with the inertia of their success and the resistance to change that comes with size, complexity, and entrenched interests. On the other hand, startups can leverage their lack of inertia—their agility, their willingness to pivot and adapt—as a competitive advantage.
Momentum and inertia are closely related. While inertia is the tendency to resist change, momentum is the oomph an object has when it’s moving. The more momentum something has, the harder it is to stop or redirect. The key is to pick the right direction and build momentum so inertia works to your advantage and carries you forward. This is the essence of the “flywheel” concept in business—success breeds success, and small wins compound into big gains.
When you’re fighting the status quo, remember the physics at play. Resistance is natural. Understand that building momentum in a new direction takes a sustained force. While the universe resists change, it always rewards those who dare to overcome that resistance.
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Inertia is the stubborn resistance of the universe to change. It’s why objects at rest tend to stay at rest, and objects in motion tend to stay in motion. You can think of inertia as the guardian of the status quo.
At its core, inertia is a property of mass. The more massive an object is, the more it resists changes to its state of motion. A feather, with its tiny mass, is easily blown about by the slightest breeze. A boulder, on the other hand, requires a powerful force to get it moving. This is why it takes more effort to push a heavy cart than a light one, more energy to launch a rocket than to toss a ball.
But inertia isn’t just a physical phenomenon. It’s an illuminating lens to see habits, beliefs, and our resistance to change. The longer we’ve held them, the larger the mass and the more force required to change them. The path of least resistance is always the status quo.
Getting started is the hardest part. Once something moves in a direction, keeping it in motion is much easier. But once something is in motion, it’s hard to stop. This is why most self-help books about positive habits break things down into very small steps—to reduce the force required to overcome the status quo. For example, if you want to get in the habit of doing push-ups daily, start with one rather than fifty. If you want to start a flossing habit, start with one tooth. After all, the bigger the mass—in this case, the gap between where you are and where you want to be— the more effort required.
Inertia is both a challenge and an opportunity. Successful companies struggle with the inertia of their success and the resistance to change that comes with size, complexity, and entrenched interests. On the other hand, startups can leverage their lack of inertia—their agility, their willingness to pivot and adapt—as a competitive advantage.
Momentum and inertia are closely related. While inertia is the tendency to resist change, momentum is the oomph an object has when it’s moving. The more momentum something has, the harder it is to stop or redirect. The key is to pick the right direction and build momentum so inertia works to your advantage and carries you forward. This is the essence of the “flywheel” concept in business—success breeds success, and small wins compound into big gains.
When you’re fighting the status quo, remember the physics at play. Resistance is natural. Understand that building momentum in a new direction takes a sustained force. While the universe resists change, it always rewards those who dare to overcome that resistance.
@Audiobooks_collection
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“The nature of illusion is that it’s designed to make you feel good. About yourself, about your country, about where you’re going – in that sense it functions like a drug. Those who question that illusion are challenged not so much for the veracity of what they say, but for puncturing those feelings.”
— Chris Hedges
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— Chris Hedges
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One big mistake people repeatedly make is focusing on proving themselves right, instead of focusing on achieving the best outcome. This is the wrong side of right.
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Quotes Collection • Quotes Archive • Book Snippets pinned «Self-improvement is the natural byproduct of consistently taking actions that feel bad now, but good later. - Doing that hard workout - Eating that healthy meal - Having that hard conversation - Doing that focused work - Waking up on time All of these things…»
“I notice that when all a man’s information is confined to the field in which he is working, the work is never as good as it ought to be. A man has to get a perspective, and he can get it from books or from people — preferably from both. This thing of sleeping and eating with your business can easily be overdone; it is all well enough—usually necessary—in times of trouble but as a steady diet it does not make for good business; a man ought now and then to get far enough away to have a look at himself and his affairs.”
— Harvey S. Firestone (written in 1926)
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— Harvey S. Firestone (written in 1926)
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“Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior.”
— James Clear
Your environment is the hidden force that guides behavior. One reason it’s so effective is that it speaks to your subconscious mind and not your conscious mind.
Default behaviors love the path of least resistance. Not only does our environment choose that path but it pushes us in that direction.
Most of the time when we think of ‘environment’ we think only of our visible environment. Consider your house. Seeing a bag of chips on the counter makes eating healthy harder. In the same way, removing chips from the house altogether makes eating them harder. To get a bag of chips you have to get in your car and go to the store.
If we limit our understanding of environmental influences only to what we can see, we miss a large part of its powerful force. Let’s look at hidden environmental forces that shape our behavior.
We become what we consume. What you read today becomes the raw material of your thoughts tomorrow. High-quality inputs offer high-quality raw materials to assemble in the future. A person with an environment with rich sources of information makes better choices than someone consuming low-quality sources of information. Not only do they have better raw material, but they also have a broader perspective and a calmer mind. The same applies to food. What we eat today is what we become tomorrow. All things being equal, the person that eats healthier will live longer and avoid more problems than someone who does not.
Who we spend time with matters. My grandfather, like many, used to tell me you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. A lot of wisdom, like this, gets easily dismissed because it’s not entirely accurate. That’s unfortunate because it’s very useful. By choosing who you spend time with today, you change your trajectory tomorrow.
Another bit of wisdom hiding in plain sight is that people tend to hang around people like themselves. That explains why if your friends watch TV every night, you eventually will too. You can take this in all sorts of directions. If you spend a lot of time with people who are kind and thoughtful, you will act that way too. If you spend time with people who share a certain politics, you eventually see things similarly. It also explains why, if you start spending time with people who are unlike you in certain ways you want to cultivate, you will become like them. All of this happens without conscious awareness.
By choosing who you spend time with you are also choosing who you want to be. This is the environmental force at work on your subconscious and your biological instincts.
Here are three lessons you can take from this:
1. Curate your information diet to be rich and diverse. Follow people who think differently than you. Read old books. Remember that what you put into your mind today is the raw material you have to work with tomorrow.
2. Surround yourself with people whose default behavior is your desired behavior. If you want to run more, join a group that runs every day. Spend less time with people whose default behavior isn’t your desired behavior.
3. Design your environment knowing it will influence your future self. You can easily make undesired behaviors harder and desired behaviors easier.
Understanding the invisible influence of your environment allows you to turn your desired behaviors into default behaviors.
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"Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world." - Malala
Never underestimate the power of tiny actions.
A small stone thrown into a lake can create a ripples that expand for ages.
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Never underestimate the power of tiny actions.
A small stone thrown into a lake can create a ripples that expand for ages.
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“The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset.
This is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives.”
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This is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives.”
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“Patience is not passive, on the contrary, it is concentrated strength.” ― Bruce Lee
People wait in different ways. Some are passive. Others are active. These two approaches are as different as the results they yield.
Passive patience is waiting for the world to give you the thing you want. A lot of people live their life with passive patience. Rather than go after the promotion at work they expect it to fall in their lap. Rather than go after the love of their life, they sit back and expect to be courted. Rather than chase their dreams, they wait for just the right opening that always seems around the corner but never comes. These people have the wrong kind of patience.
Active patience is different. Active patience demands action and intention, even while waiting for results. Active patience means not only applying for the promotion but taking your time to build the skills you need to put yourself in the best position to succeed. Active patience means starting the business, writing the book, going after the love of your life.
Active patience puts you in the best position to get what you want. There is almost always an action you can take to improve the odds. Active in the moment but patient with the results.
Active patience.
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People wait in different ways. Some are passive. Others are active. These two approaches are as different as the results they yield.
Passive patience is waiting for the world to give you the thing you want. A lot of people live their life with passive patience. Rather than go after the promotion at work they expect it to fall in their lap. Rather than go after the love of their life, they sit back and expect to be courted. Rather than chase their dreams, they wait for just the right opening that always seems around the corner but never comes. These people have the wrong kind of patience.
Active patience is different. Active patience demands action and intention, even while waiting for results. Active patience means not only applying for the promotion but taking your time to build the skills you need to put yourself in the best position to succeed. Active patience means starting the business, writing the book, going after the love of your life.
Active patience puts you in the best position to get what you want. There is almost always an action you can take to improve the odds. Active in the moment but patient with the results.
Active patience.
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“It is only when we take chances, when our lives improve. The initial and the most difficult risk that we need to take is to become honest.
— Walter Anderson
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— Walter Anderson
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Sam Altman on avoiding regrets:
“If you think you’re going to regret not doing something, you should probably do it. Regret is the worst, and most people regret far more things they didn’t do than things they did do.”
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“If you think you’re going to regret not doing something, you should probably do it. Regret is the worst, and most people regret far more things they didn’t do than things they did do.”
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"I'm going to be gone one day, and I have to accept that tomorrow isn't promised.
Am I OK with how I'm living today? It's the only thing I can help.
If I didn't have another one, what have I done with all my todays? Am I doing a good job?"
— Hayley Williams
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Am I OK with how I'm living today? It's the only thing I can help.
If I didn't have another one, what have I done with all my todays? Am I doing a good job?"
— Hayley Williams
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A lot of people miss useful ideas hiding in plain sight because they search for accuracy.
If you dismiss an idea because it is not 100% correct, you miss many ideas that are perfectly useful.
The real test for an idea, theory, or advice is utility. The more useful, the better.
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If you dismiss an idea because it is not 100% correct, you miss many ideas that are perfectly useful.
The real test for an idea, theory, or advice is utility. The more useful, the better.
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Legendary Alabama football coach Nick Saban speech he gave on the Illusion of Choice:
"But the fact of the matter is, if you want to be good you don’t really have a lot of choices. It takes what it takes. You have to do what you have to do to be successful."
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"But the fact of the matter is, if you want to be good you don’t really have a lot of choices. It takes what it takes. You have to do what you have to do to be successful."
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Here’s Saban on the Illusion of Choice:
“These guys, they all think they have this illusion of choice. Like I can do whatever I want to do.
“You have a younger generation now that doesn’t always get told no. They don’t get told this is exactly how you need to do it. So they have this illusion that they have all these choices.
“But the fact of the matter is, if you want to be good you don’t really have a lot of choices. It takes what it takes. You have to do what you have to do to be successful.
“You have to make the choices and decisions to have the discipline and the focus to the process of what you need to do to accomplish your goals.
“All these guys that think they have a lot of choices are sadly mistaken. As we all have done with our own children, they learn these lessons of life as they get older.
“Sometimes the best way to learn is from the mistakes you make, even though we all hate to see them have to make them, and we don’t condone it when they do.”
The full Speech
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“These guys, they all think they have this illusion of choice. Like I can do whatever I want to do.
“You have a younger generation now that doesn’t always get told no. They don’t get told this is exactly how you need to do it. So they have this illusion that they have all these choices.
“But the fact of the matter is, if you want to be good you don’t really have a lot of choices. It takes what it takes. You have to do what you have to do to be successful.
“You have to make the choices and decisions to have the discipline and the focus to the process of what you need to do to accomplish your goals.
“All these guys that think they have a lot of choices are sadly mistaken. As we all have done with our own children, they learn these lessons of life as they get older.
“Sometimes the best way to learn is from the mistakes you make, even though we all hate to see them have to make them, and we don’t condone it when they do.”
The full Speech
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There is a constant battle in all of us between our today-self and our tomorrow-self.
Today-self is like our inner child. Today-self cares only about today. It wants to focus on things that offer an immediate payoff. Whether that’s kicking back with a few too many glasses of wine, spending money on status symbols, or avoiding doing things that can be done tomorrow. Tomorrow-self is like our inner adult.
Tomorrow-self cares about things that take time to get results — like working on your relationship, saving money, or consistently moving the project forward one inch at a time.
Imagine you are tasked with building a brick wall. Today-self looks at the empty space in disbelief, discouraged at the size of the project. Today-self decides to start tomorrow. Only tomorrow never comes because the empty space again seems insurmountable. Today-self decides to talk about the wall they’re going to build, as if it were the same as building the wall. It’s not.
Tomorrow-self knows that no one builds a wall all at once. It’s going to take a month of consistent effort from the time you start before it’s done. Tomorrow-self wishes you’d stop thinking about the wall and focus on one brick.
Everything is a matter of perspective. Where you focus determines what you see. It’s easy to get lost in the magnitude of what you’re doing and completely ignore how it gets done. Focusing on the wall makes the task impossible. You have to focus on the brick.
The lesson applies to everything. If you’re writing a book, focus on writing the best paragraph and not the entire book. If you’re playing sports, focus on the next play and not winning the game. If you’re starting a company, focus on delighting one customer. Or, if you’re my kids, don’t focus on the pile of T-shirts to be folded, focus on one shirt.
Don’t focus on the enormity of the task, rather focus on the smallest thing you can do that moves you forward. As the momentum builds, things get easier. The second paragraph is easier to write than the first. The second T-shirt is easier to fold than the first. The second brick is easier to lay than the first.
Grasping this concept and applying it to what you’re doing is the key to accomplishing anything. Focus on a small but critical part of the task that moves you forward. Execute. Repeat. The logic is simple but not simplistic.
The wisdom of tomorrow-self is this: Focus on one thing you can do today to make tomorrow easier. Repeat.
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Today-self is like our inner child. Today-self cares only about today. It wants to focus on things that offer an immediate payoff. Whether that’s kicking back with a few too many glasses of wine, spending money on status symbols, or avoiding doing things that can be done tomorrow. Tomorrow-self is like our inner adult.
Tomorrow-self cares about things that take time to get results — like working on your relationship, saving money, or consistently moving the project forward one inch at a time.
Imagine you are tasked with building a brick wall. Today-self looks at the empty space in disbelief, discouraged at the size of the project. Today-self decides to start tomorrow. Only tomorrow never comes because the empty space again seems insurmountable. Today-self decides to talk about the wall they’re going to build, as if it were the same as building the wall. It’s not.
Tomorrow-self knows that no one builds a wall all at once. It’s going to take a month of consistent effort from the time you start before it’s done. Tomorrow-self wishes you’d stop thinking about the wall and focus on one brick.
Everything is a matter of perspective. Where you focus determines what you see. It’s easy to get lost in the magnitude of what you’re doing and completely ignore how it gets done. Focusing on the wall makes the task impossible. You have to focus on the brick.
The lesson applies to everything. If you’re writing a book, focus on writing the best paragraph and not the entire book. If you’re playing sports, focus on the next play and not winning the game. If you’re starting a company, focus on delighting one customer. Or, if you’re my kids, don’t focus on the pile of T-shirts to be folded, focus on one shirt.
Don’t focus on the enormity of the task, rather focus on the smallest thing you can do that moves you forward. As the momentum builds, things get easier. The second paragraph is easier to write than the first. The second T-shirt is easier to fold than the first. The second brick is easier to lay than the first.
Grasping this concept and applying it to what you’re doing is the key to accomplishing anything. Focus on a small but critical part of the task that moves you forward. Execute. Repeat. The logic is simple but not simplistic.
The wisdom of tomorrow-self is this: Focus on one thing you can do today to make tomorrow easier. Repeat.
@Audiobooks_collection
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