A Thing in Motion Stays in Motion

There’s science that explains why we stick with what we start. People feel Pressure to be Consistent with Commitments … It’s how habits are formed, how we learn and how we engage with the world— and it’s actually super-EFFICIENT… Once we have DECIDED on something we don’t have to waste energy thinking about it again.. and we build momentum over time… because it’s easier to continue once we have begun. 

Modern psychologists refer to this as the Commitment and Consistency Bias… in 1687 Newton described it as a natural law “A thing in Motion will stay in motion” and in 350 BC Aristotle wrote “Well begun is half done.” The key is to START… 

And forward motion starts when we start… momentum builds. It’s the way we do anything, the way we learn anything – little by little, then all at once: it’s the way we fall in love, learn to play an instrument, become skilled in a field. Research shows that learning and engagement start small and then it builds. The math is simple… improve 1% a day, every day, and in 70 days you’re twice as good… Incremental growth over time can be Exponential.  To achieve any (1) outcome the brain burns energy to… identify a (2) problem then choose a (3) solution and finally to make a (4) commitment to move forward… from that point on it feels pressure to be consistent with that commitment… pressure from the Latin verb to press, meaning that some force is applied. Forward Motion is in and of itself a Forcing Mechanism

Whenever  you want to get someone started, ask 3 questions…  1) What are the First 3 Things we must do to get started?  2) What are 3 Obstacles that STAND our way? (Have WE created any?)  (3) can we Eliminate 1 of the 6 this week and GET IN MOTION?

Once we get started on something we don’t have to waste energy thinking about it again.  It is one thing to be conscious of the principles of engagement, it is a whole other level to BE INTENTIONAL: We can both Be Committed AND Be Relentless about Improvement