In the first post in the time management series, I mentioned the Pareto Principle. It’s amazing how applicable it is in a very wide variety of issues in life. But have you ever realized that the same applies to Newton’s Laws of Motion? I think it’s funny that this doesn’t come up more often, as there is even a commercial with a tag line ‘a body in motion remains in motion’. Let’s dissect all three of Newton’s Laws of Motion and their life management lessons.
Newton's First Law
A body remains at rest, or in motion at a constant speed in a straight line, unless acted upon by a force.
Newton’s First Law is the source of the abovementioned tag line ‘a body in motion will remain in motion’. Or a motionless body will remain motionless unless it gets a proverbial kick in the butt from an outside force.
Why does it matter in your time and life management?
Ask any long distance runner and they will tell you that the hardest day on their schedule is a rest day. We are all itching to get out there and move. And taper can be a flat out torture!
The same thing will hold true for your other habits. If you get them ingrained in you, soon enough, you won’t be able to imagine living otherwise. If you create a set of habits that support your goals, your inertia will carry you good chunk of the way. Beginnings may be hard (more on that when we talk about the Second Law of Motion), but once your habit is well established, it will be as hard for you to imagine not doing it as it once was to think of doing it.
Newton's Second Law
When a body is acted upon by a force, the time rate of change of its momentum equals the force.
Second Law is your source of problems with getting started. Once you’re moving, your inertia will carry you forward. But getting in motion requires a force to get you there. In life management, that force is called a motivation. The stronger your motivation, the bigger your change will be.
A friend of mine used to work all the time and got himself to the verge of a heart attack. One day, when he started to feel light headed at work, he realized he is on a road straight to an early grave. It was a strong motivator. He changed his diet and started to work out regularly. At this point, I lost count of marathons he has ran and he is a fellow triathlete.
You doubt the applicability in professional life? World is full of entrepreneurs who started because life kicked them off the beaten path – have you heard of Pat Flynn? He was an architect until he lost his job and started his own business. By all accounts, he is doing well.
Those were big kicks that life provided and you may not have those (in a way, I hope you don’t). Keep the Second Law in mind though when you want to create new habits and make changes in your life. Don’t jump head-first, full force into it. Start gently, as it takes a lot less force. Since it’s the New Year Resolution season, I have been seeing advice, some better and some worse. One of the best I saw was: when you start a new habit, make it take less than 2 minutes. I agree – it’s short enough that you can do it without a problem (unless you’re doing a plank. Then that’s an eternity 😉), so the force necessary to do it is relatively small. Over time, you can build up your habit. You also know that you can find those two minutes in your life. Just get off social media…
Newton's Third Law
If two bodies exert forces on each other, these forces have the same magnitude but opposite directions.
Isn’t this all about running into obstacles?
Nobody’s life is so charmed as to completely avoid obstacles. Just remember: as the obstacle is pushing against you, you are pushing it. Be the stronger force! You can do it.
And if it turns out you ran into a wall, bounced off and landed on your behind? Well, what a great moment to take a look at the situation from a new perspective.
I know it sounds like some toxic positivity, but hear me out: if you were running at the wall and your focus was all on it, you may have missed some very important things about the situation. Maybe it’s a door and finesse rather than brute force will get you to the other side? Or maybe the wall is just three feet wide and you can walk around it?
Conclusion
We are so focused on our daily lives and immediate situation that, for better or worse, we let Newton’s First Law of Motion, our inertia, carry us forward. We need the other two Laws in our lives though, too – they are what opens new doors for us and pushes us to our goals. Are you using New Year as the force that will put you on a new path? Or are you already using inertia of your habits to carry you to your goals?
What other principles do you know that have applications across multiple aspects of people’s lives?