Here Is The Best Way to Break Mental Inertia.
It is not what you think it is.
Start with the body.
There you go.
You can read a five thousand-word essay filled with examples and research on how physical routine can help you break mental inertia.
Watch hundreds of videos on the topic.
Or you can read this four-word sentence and get to the point.
The message is the same.
Start with the body.
Having a physical routine will help you get out of the rut or mental inertia.
We all know what mental inertia feels like.
You start a book, read the first three pages and find yourself doing something else. It happens over and over again. That is not the way to read..is it?
If you are someone like me, the next time you pick up that book, you will again start from page one because the first time you read it, it was without any continuity.
So you start again. You will do it a few more times… the same thing happens. So you finally go…Fuck it. I will pick up another book.
The process is repeated.
You try to force yourself into reading but it doesn’t help. You know you are distracted.
Another example. You sit to write. The words won’t flow. You harness the last drop of willpower you have and still find the page empty. You try some hack or trick. You manage to write a few paragraphs but judge them like your biggest critic would.
Backspace.
The page is empty again.
You try again. Over and over and over again.
Damn… “Writer’s Block.”
If you can relate to this then you must know that the solution of this problem is not where you think it is.
It lies somewhere else.
Let me give you an example.
I remember some fifteen years ago I was struggling with an intense pain in my arm. It would just go numb, I couldn’t move my fingers at all. It was extremely frustrating because at the time I was learning to play guitar and my fingers would just give up. I had no grip strength.
I tried everything e.g. allopathic medicine, homeopathic medicine, and physiotherapy. Nothing was working.
I can’t put in words, the level of frustration I felt. I felt extremely limited. Everyday activities felt like tasks to be completed.
Then a friend recommended me to an acupressure therapist. Having tried everything else in the book, I went to him. I remember he did not touch the area of my arm where I was feeling the pain.
Instead, he applied pressure on some specific areas of my hands and feet. After the end of the session, I still remember the feeling I had. First time in over a year I felt the blood flow in my arm which was mostly numb and lifeless. It felt like some nerve in my arm was previously congested with clutter, which finally has been cleared. I felt my arm come back to life.
Of course, it wasn’t a one-time fix. I had to continue therapy for quite some time. I had to make corrections in my posture and nutrition as well. But the therapist told me something interesting.
He said, “In Acupressure we have a principle, we do not cure pain by pressing the points on the area of the pain, you should never do that, it will make it worse. It will stimulate and intensify the pain further. The root of the pain experienced lies elsewhere, we first identify the problem and then apply pressure on the points related the the problem area.”
For some reason, it has stayed with me. You do not solve the problem by working on the problem. A problem just like a symptom of a disease (in my case the symptom was pain and numbness in the arm) is a signpost subtly urging you to look for the actual cause, the root of it.
The same principle can be applied to the problem of mental resistance/inertia.
It’s hard to break it via will alone. If anything, pushing or forcing yourself creates more resistance in you.
Mental inertia is correlated with physical inertia. The aim is to move. That’s why long walks are so potent. Not only it has enormous health benefits but it also helps you come out of the state of the state of inactivity.
Steve Jobs was famous for this. He was commonly seen taking long walks for the purpose of exercise, problem-solving, and contemplation. Not just him, Nikola Tesla claimed that long walks helped boost his creativity. So did Sigmund Freud, Charles Darwin, and many others.
The point I am trying to make is not that you need to go for long walks only. The point is that having a physical routine is the best way to break that mental resistance you feel to get things done.
“Running! If there’s any activity happier, more exhilarating, more nourishing to the imagination, I can’t think what it might be.- Joyce Carol Oates”
Go for a walk, go to the gym, go running, swim, do yoga, or play a sport that involves some physical movement. That will help you much more than forcing yourself by the act of willpower alone.
Add a physical routine to your life.
Move.
I do believe that it is the easiest place to start as well. It makes you disciplined, you feel better. So, there it was. How to break mental inertia? I will repeat it, in case you need to hear it again.
Start with the body.
Thank you for reading!
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