Inertia: Revealing Why You Always Fail To Change

Inertia is the tendency to stick to the “default” option or status quo unless compelled by a motive to intervene. We automatically choose the “default”, even if there is a more beneficial option available. It is why individuals, teams, and organizations struggle to break free from traditional ways of doing things. Because we are habituated to certain ways of doing things and opinions, we will stick with the “default” unless prompted not to.

The concept is borrowed from the field of physics. It is the first of the three Newtonian laws of motion, dictating that an object in motion will stay in motion and an object in rest will stay in rest, unless an external force causes the velocity to change. The same applies to psychological inertia. It is easier to remain the same than to change, or to keep going down a certain path once we have started. Psychological inertia is thus widely applicable and has leaked into health, business, personal development, crime, career, and even relationships.

Inertia can be particularly bad because it locks you into familiar patterns of thinking. It is one of the forces that maintains you as you are, resisting any change to your actions or thought processes. Inertia can even worsen how well you memorize things, how objective your judgments are, how much you are willing to learn from other people, and how much you can evolve as an individual on the broader spectrum. According to the principle, you will stay consistent given you do not try to consciously change what you are doing. A good way to measure whether you are doing the right things is to apply the inertia lens: where will you be if you keep doing the same things 10 weeks from now? 10 months? 10 years?

The functions of inertia are pretty self-explanatory. They can always easily be related to their physical counterpart. There is a preference for maintaining current conditions, despite change opening us up to better outcomes. The energy required for change keeps us stagnant, since, like physical objects, mental or organizational shifts require overcoming an initial threshold of effort and/or discomfort. Once we or a system is en route, we are inclined to continue in that direction, making it difficult to stop or redirect without intervention. The effort is further amplified by the human proclivity to avoid uncertainty, failure, and potential losses. TLDR: change is hard.

And psychological inertia as a construct makes sense. Change means processing new information, reevaluating what we believe, making decisions, adapting, forming habits, yada-yada. Change screams effort. Familiarity with current routines and structures, in stark contrast, provides stability and comfort. Sunk costs—past investments of money, time, and effort—make us reluctant to shift our ways. In other words, staying the same lures us with ease. It’s rarely a case of not knowing what to or why to change, more a problem of inertia.

Real life implications of inertia:

• Personal: you might continue unhealthy eating habits despite knowing your diet needs a change, resisting starting a new routine because of the effort needed to adjust; try to break the habit down into immediately practicable steps and doable tasks, like one healthy meal per week in lieu of pounds lost—once the momentum builds, add in the second, third, fourth…;

• Career: you might stay in a dissatisfying job because changing careers is daunting—the comfort of routine and discomfort of uncertainty are attacking you on all fronts—try to counter this by building momentum, say, researching alternative paths or networking with people in the position you want;

• Relationships: you might remain in a toxic relationship to avoid the discomfort of separation and/or confrontation; counter this by applying the lens of inertia and asking time-related questions like the above-mentioned;

• Business: you might be reluctant to try new technologies or advertising strategies despite clear opportunities, so aim to foster a culture of experimentation in your company and slowly build momentum by employing small-scale changes—once you see the performance, expand;

• Procrastination: you might be putting off a task because of the effort required to start, resulting in undue stress and missed deadlines; counter this by using a technique to ease you into motion, like James Clear’s two-minute rule.

How you might use inertia as a thinking tool: (1) identify the root cause of resistance—fears, habits, investments—that is keeping you or your team from change; (2) exploit external forces, using deadlines, accountability partners, or incentives to stay on track; (3) start with the smallest possible step you can imagine, and then make it slightly smaller to build momentum and reduce the perceived effort required; (4) reframe change, rendering it an opportunity and benefit rather than a potentially risky endeavor; (5) monitor your process, not your progress, and put in slightly more effort where you see your momentum waning; (6) adjust gradually when approaching change instead of diving into drastic overhauls which will most likely fail.

Thought provoking insights. “An object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion stays in motion, unless acted upon by a force.” as stated by Newton himself, it shows that momentum in the right or wrong direction is what determines your outcomes in health, business, and life as a whole. “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got.” and “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most adaptable to change.” the former by Tony Robbins the latter by Charles Darwin, underlining that change is a keystone if you want to achieve anything meaningful. Inertia is stable and consistent. But you don’t always want to stay in place. Sometimes you want to grow, to change, to adapt. Expect resistance. Address change with the lens of inertia, and you could just break loose from stagnation.

Questions to reflect on:

1. How does inertia affect how willing I am to change my habits and/or routines?

2. What potential consequences await me if I remain in my current state or situation? A year from now? 3 years? 5 years? A decade?

3. What strategies can I use to maintain momentum once I have initiated change?

4. What relatively small actions can I take today to overcome inertia and make headway?

5. How do I recognize when inertia is holding me back?

Quotes that drill in the concept:

1. "Inertia is the resistance to change in motion or rest." - Isaac Newton, mathematician and physicist, "inventor" of inertia.

2. "Nothing happens until something moves." - Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist.

3. "Change is not a force to be feared, but an opportunity to be seized." - Sam Weiss, television producer.

4. "The hardest thing in the world is to start an argument or stop one." - G.K. Chesterton, English writer.

Example use cases:

1. Business: companies facing market shifts may experience inertia, hindering their ability to adapt. Leaders use change management initiatives to overcome resistance and drive their organization to transform.

2. Personal development: you can recognize inertia in your habits and routines and use techniques like goal-setting, accountability partners, commitment devices, and incremental change to initiate and sustain change.

3. Education: a student encounters inertia when faced with academic challenges. Teachers can use motivational techniques and interactive learning methods to help students overcome resistance and engage in their study efforts.

4. Health: patients can experience inertia when trying to adopt healthier lifestyles. Healthcare providers could offer support, education, and structured wellness programs to help them make and maintain positive change.