Activation Energy

Chapter 14, Section 4

I was talking to a retired physician this am who is struggling to lose weight. He very honestly admitted, “I know how to work out and I know how to eat right. I could teach this to anyone. But making myself do it is another matter.” We both agreed that achieving basic fitness isn’t a mysterious thing. It’s common sense. Unfortunately, in fitness and in life, common sense isn’t common practice.

We all know we should eat more broccoli and less ice cream. We all know we should get up early and exercise. We all know we should spend less and save more. We all know we should watch less reality TV and read a book every now and then. We all know we should spend less time playing games on our phones and more time interacting with loved ones. But we don’t. Not because the things we should do are so complicated and difficult, but because those unproductive activities are just so darn easy.

These positive tasks all require something akin to the concept of activation energy in chemistry and physics. It’s the initial surge in effort required to get things moving on their own. It’s the push at the beginning of the task to get momentum started.

And the timewasting activities, they require almost no activation energy at all. It takes no effort to hit snooze and skip the gym, to grab the remote right next to the recliner, or to pick up the phone and play some mindless game.

But what if we replaced the remote on the end table with a book? What if we put the alarm clock on the other side of the room and had the gym bag all packed and ready to go? What if we kept no ice cream at the house but plenty of broccoli, precooked and ready to eat?

Think of your own common practice shortcomings. What is that you know you need to change? How can you make those new tasks easier to begin and the old habits harder to continue?

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