The Benefits Of Overcoming Inertia

Overcoming inertia or getting yourself unstuck seems to be supremely difficult for most of us. Even when we know what the benefits could be and aren’t even sure what is stopping us, we can’t seem to give ourselves the little push we need. Sadly this weird, human phenomenon can stop us from experiencing some wonderful, possibly life changing experiences. For the work from home solo entrepreneur it’s deadly and just has to be overcome. But how?

For me overcoming inertia is a constant struggle. It takes sheer determination at the end of the day. I’ve found that it does get easier when you focus on a time of when you did it and the results were awesome. In their book “How To Make Lots of Money For Anything Fast”, the authors Stuart Lichtman and Joe Vitale outline a process called writing meta stories. Here’s a recent and simple version of how it can be used for overcoming inertia.

Can’t Be Bothered? Do It Anyway

About a year ago I was at a gig played by a local band who’s singer is a friend of my partners. I liked them and during their break mentioned I’d love to record them sometime. Long story short, that happened some weeks later. I got to know them over a few sessions and a mix party. We were all keen to get together for a jam (both my partner and I are musicians too) and decided that yes, we would definitely do that… some time soon.

Last Friday night we finally did that almost a year later. But why did it take so long? The band have a perfect, even idyllic set up I’d have killed for when my own band was a going concern. They are great people and we are all old enough to have got past the off-putting competitive nonsense that young bands often have. We are all seasoned semi-pro’s.

[It’s All In The Mind]

What stopped us was simply overcoming inertia. My partner and I like nothing better on a Friday night after a long week than to cook a nice meal, open a couple of bottles of wine and chill out. To do the jam session meant, loading up the car with guitars and equipment and driving ten miles to “Band HQ”. We would, as we would be drinking, have to get ourselves home and then one of us would need to return to collect the car on Saturday. To be blunt – we couldn’t be bothered. And that’s awful.

The thought of all that hassle is the only thing that had stopped us for so long. Ok so we live in a very rural setting, but there are buses and taxis! It’s more inconvenient than it would be in a city centre but not much more (and far more pleasant) In the end we got ourselves unstuck, overcame the inertia and just did it.

Overcoming Inertia and Getting Unstuck

The result was a great night, which got us both re-inspired musically and will lead to some collaboration in future. It deepened some new friendships for us in an area we moved to recently. It has also given me an experience, which will help me in overcoming inertia in future. To cap it all, the drummer gave us a lift into town (mid way between our place and theirs) where we planned to grab a taxi. As it was a beautiful night however, we decided to walk home along the coast road. So we got some exercise and saw some Herons too! I got the bus back next day and picked up the car. Simple. This is now a new meta story I can use next time I need to get myself unstuck.

Part of my business is promoting a digital skills platform, which helps people to leverage the wonders of modern technology. These are literally life changing skills that can create huge levels of time, location and financial freedom. They introduce themselves by a series of free video presentations. They even offer a free trial membership.

Let The Good Times Roll

When I saw the videos myself I was in – hook, line and sinker – and It has been life changing for me. But I constantly see people failing to overcome inertia and take action as I did. I think the reason is similar to the situation I just described. Who wants to come home after a day at the 9-5 coalface and spend more time working or learning? Well, you’d think that anyone who subscribed for the video series would – and some do. I’m certain that many of those who don’t are simply struggling to overcome inertia – they can’t be bothered.

I’m sure you have a similar example to ours of a time when, even though you couldn’t be bothered, you did it anyway. I’ll bet the rewards were every bit as great as ours. So use that experience the next time you are struggling to overcome inertia.