The Physics of Motivating Yourself
By Leo Babauta
Posted on February 22, 2025
Most people have only a hazy idea of how to motivate themselves. Getting ourselves to do something we know we want to do — a big project, exercise, etc. — can be really hard.
But actually, the way motivation works is pretty straightforward physics. We’re talking about things like force and inertia, not quantum mechanics.
Let’s take a look at how motivation works, so we can understand how to put it into effect.
Inertia vs. Energy
The first thing to understand is that there’s always an initial hurdle to overcome when you want to get started (or restarted) with something. If you are starting a new project or habit, there’s Inertia to overcome.
Even if you’re just trying to get started with your focus block for the day, you’ll face Inertia.
It’s important to simply recognize that there’s Inertia when we’re starting, and to recognize that it takes some Energy to overcome that.
If you’re low on Energy for any reason … that makes it harder to overcome the Inertia. Maybe you haven’t gotten good sleep, maybe you’ve been sick or taking care of someone, maybe you’ve been traveling, maybe you have a lot going on at work or in your personal life that’s draining your Energy. Whatever the reason, recognize that the Energy you have to overcome the Initial inertia is lower.
With all of that in mind, lower the bar to getting started — make it super easy. You just need to put your shoes on, you don’t need to run 3 miles. You just need to open your document, you don’t have to write 1000 words.
And find a way to get your Energy up, to overcome the Inertia. Make a promise to someone, do it with others, play some music, move your body, get some inspiration. Then direct the Energy to the smallest possible first step.
Fear vs. Possibility: Opposing Motivating Forces
Sometimes we’re motivated by Fear — the need to do something so we don’t let others down or get punished. But often Fear has a demotivating effect: we don’t want to fail or embarrass ourselves, so we procrastinate.
Fear is inevitable, if we allow ourselves to think of Possibility. Anyting that would be amazing — if I exercise I can get super healthy and fit, if I work on this project it could make a meaningful impact, if I pursue this goal it will change my life. This is Possibility.
We need Possibility to be motivated for the long-term — otherwise, we’re just pushing ourselves to do something we think we should do. That’s not very motivating. What’s the Possibility that lights up your heart?
When we let ourselves feel a big Possibility, we immediately feel an equal amount of Fear. They coexist equally. Most people then shut down the Possiiblity so they don’t have to feel the Fear. But that’s a life unfulfilled.
The way to work with this is to set aside the Fear and let ourselves get present to the Possibility that lights us up. Then to commit ourselves to it, and work with the Fear. Get present to the Fear as well, letting ourselves breathe deeply and soothing our nervous system. Then take the smallest next step.
A Structure & Community as Multipliers
If we have Possibility and Energy, we can mutiply them with two things:
- Structure: Energy dissipates if we don’t have Structure. Even if we’re able to increase our Energy and Possibility, without strong Structure it just spills out in all directions. We need to direct all of this with Structure — daily focus sessions, weekly planning and accountability sessions, monthly reviews. It can be fairly minimal, but we need to be committed to the Structure.
- Community: It’s hard to do things on our own. Having some kind of Community to be with you on the journey, to understand you and support you, is a multiplier of Possibility and Energy.
Don’t neglect these two elements if you want to stay motivated over the long term. We can get excited and inspired and be motivated for a day or three. But anything worthwhile will probably take longer, and for that, we need Structure and Community.
Fearless Mastery: What I’ve Created to Help
It can be confusing to find your way through all of these elements of motivation, even if they’re somewhat straightforward. To help, I’ve created Fearless Mastery 2025, my small group coaching and mastermind program.
Here’s how it helps with these elements of motivation:
- We create Structure — weekly check-ins, weekly group calls, accountability partners, coaching sessions, a Demo Day each month for your project, and more.
- It’s a Community — it’s a small group of fewer than 20 people, all working together for 8 months (starting March 4, 2025) to support each other’s meaningful projects.
- Learn to work with Fear — a big part of the program is learning how to regulate your emotions so you can work masterfully with Fear when it shows up (and it will!).
- Tactical steps — we help you find the tactical ideas needed to overcome Inertia and get started, every week and every day. That might take coaching along the way, as it’s hard to see on our own where we’re going wrong.
