I’ve been taking horseback riding lessons for a while now. A few years back, my usual instructor was out sick, so we had a substitute. The sub had us take our horses over some poles that were laying on the ground at the trot. The point is to get the horses to pick their feet up a bit more instead of dragging them along. It was an exercise I’d done with no problems previously. The only issue was that the horse I normally rode, Murphy, was half blind, and because of this, we normally would go over the poles at a walk first so she could see them and know what was coming. We trotted around the arena, made the turn to go over the poles, got to the poles… and Murphy spooked at the poles and bolted right. I, however, continued to go straight. With a horse no longer under me, I had an abrupt meeting with the ground.
The point of the tale is this: inertia is a bitch.
However, we can get inertia to work FOR us. While objects at rest (including ourselves) tend to stay at rest, objects in motion tend to stay in motion. Momentum can absolutely work in our favor. It is HARD to get up and go to the gym in the morning. But that feeling of accomplishment you get from doing more before breakfast than some people do all day sticks with you. You’ll find yourself feeling better. I personally have a much easier time choosing healthier options on days I go to the gym before work, because I don’t want to undo all that hard work I just did.
It can be tough to overcome any initial inaction, but once you get over that hump, you can get momentum to work for you rather than against you, so start today!