Newton’s Law of Inertia in Everyday Life

Hey everyone — Akmal here again. This time I want to talk about something that shows up on ordinary days: why starting is so hard, and staying put is so easy. Not trying to be a motivational speaker — I just like physics metaphors, and Newton’s Law of Inertia (Newton’s First Law) happens to fit this nicely, though it’s not literal physics of the soul.

The law is simple: an object stays at rest or in uniform straight-line motion unless an external force acts on it. In everyday life, the “object” can be our body and mind — a metaphor, not a scientific claim. Rest tends to stay at rest. Motion tends to stay in motion. To switch from one to the other, we need something from outside: force, or in plainer language, the first step.

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Rest vs motion

Comfort zones are real. Doing nothing does feel safe and low-risk. The catch: the longer we stay at rest — in the sense of not taking the actions we know matter — the stronger that “rest inertia” gets. The body feels heavier to move, the mind finds more reasons to procrastinate. In Newton’s metaphorical terms: no external force, so the state of rest is maintained.

On the flip side, once we’ve started moving — getting up, opening the laptop, running for a few minutes — the next tendency is to keep moving. That’s the momentum we often feel as “flow”: after the first step, the next ones feel lighter. The metaphor helps, but don’t stretch it too far; the human brain is much messier than an object in a lab.

What we need to see: rest is a choice that fits this physics metaphor, but often doesn’t fit our goals. We want to be healthy, organized, productive — yet we maintain a state of rest. To break out of that, we don’t need super motivation or a grand plan. Just one small “force”: a single action that breaks the chain of rest.

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The first step is the heaviest part

When we’re sluggish or unmotivated, our brain and body are in a state of “rest.” Trying to change that with a big goal all at once often fails, because the “force” we imagine — huge discipline, strong will — isn’t actually applied as a concrete action. What works is one small action we actually take. That’s what supplies the initial force. After that, the inertia metaphor can work the other way: motion tends to stay in motion.

Simple examples: instead of “today I must write 2000 words,” try “open the doc and write one sentence.” Instead of “I have to run 5 km,” try “put on shoes and step outside.” That small action is the external force on the system that is “us.” Once the system starts moving, what comes next often gets easier — though not always, and that’s fine.

This applies in many areas: work, study, exercise, tidying up, or simply keeping in touch. Start with the smallest thing you can do today — one paragraph, one set of push-ups, one message to a friend — then let momentum take care of the rest, if it shows up.

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A few things I keep in mind

I don’t have a magic formula, but two things make sense to me with this metaphor.

Start small, not ideal. Don’t aim for a big change first. Pick one simple task that still moves you toward your goal and do it. A small force is still a force — enough to shift the state from “rest” to “motion.” Routine helps here too: fixed times for exercise, writing, or study can be a scheduled “external force,” so you’re not waiting for the right mood first.

Resistance is strongest before the first step. Once you’ve started, keep going a bit more. Many people find it easier to continue after starting — but if you’re genuinely tired or not in the mood that day, inertia is normal. What matters isn’t punishing yourself, but noticing the pattern: when you tend to stay at rest, and which small action most often gets you moving.

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Once again: this is a metaphor, not physics of the human soul. But it’s honest enough to explain why we get stuck at rest, and why one small step often beats a big plan that only lives in your head. Big changes, when they happen, usually start there — from one action you actually take.