Have you ever found yourself sinking into a well of sluggishness and feeling like you just can't climb out? When I start feeling totally unmotivated and just want to lay around, I know that getting up and doing something -anything! - would help. Crossing off an item on my "to do" list, getting out for a run, or making a phone call to a friend are some of the things that give me a lift and help me feel energized. So why is it so hard at times for me to do something I know would help? I've concluded that I can blame the Laws of Physics, inertia in particular.
Being a word geek, I looked up inertia in the dictionary and was surprised by what I found. The definition was the one many of us learned in Physics class: a property of matter by which it remains at rest or in uniform motion in the same straight line unless acted upon by some external force. Basically, an object at rest stays at rest unless something comes along to make it do something differently. For example, I might lay on the couch unless a friend calls to ask me to go for a walk.
When I read the origin of this word, however, I had an "Aha!" moment. Inertia is a modern word derived from a Latin root meaning "lack of skill." Whoa! That means that overcoming inertia is a skill, and a skill is something that can be learned and needs to be practiced. I can be a little gentler with myself and accept that inertia will happen to me from time to time, and it doesn't mean I'm turning into a sloth.
The place to be skillful is in summoning up the force I need to change couse. I'm reminded of a question my Coach asked me years ago. He said, "When you feel stuck, what are three simple actions you can take to get yourself going again?" He suggested that I write my answers on a post-it note and stick it somewhere I'd see it when I needed it. That note lived on my bathroom mirror for a time, and I have that original note on my desk today. My three ideas are still skillful ways for me to shift out of "blah" and get going again.
Having said all of this, I want to be careful to say that there is indeed a time for rest, for just being and not doing, to take it easy. It's when we know we're not doing ourselves any good by sleeping too much, clicking through 100 cable channels, or mindlessly websurfing in a dark room on a sunny day that we need to shift ourselves from a course that leads us to feel worse instead of rejuvenated. That's when we need to become our own force of nature, skillfully shifting course and feeling awake and alive again!
Coaching Questions:
1) How can you tell the difference between your need for rest at times and inertia?
2) When you feel stuck, what are three simple actions you can take to get yourself going again? Write them on a post-it note and keep it somewhere you'll see it when you need it.
3) Whenever you feel inertia take hold, ask yourself, "Is what I'm doing (or not doing) getting me what I want?" Then do something else!
