In this solo episode of the No Days Off podcast, host Brian Gubernick applies Newton’s first law of motion—the law of inertia—to human behavior and personal development. He argues that, like an asteroid set on a trajectory by early forces, people are propelled along life paths established by genetics, upbringing, and early experiences, and that these paths persist unless acted upon by a force greater than the original influences. Gubernick introduces the concept of the “zone of average,” a comfortable, mediocre state where people feel neither compelled to change nor motivated to improve, which reinforces inertia. He contends that modest nudges (e.g., a book, a quote) are insufficient to overcome entrenched momentum; instead, significant, high‑impact forces—major decisions, relationships, or investments—are required to shift one’s trajectory. He illustrates this with personal business anecdotes and references Shane Parrish’s example of a “too good to leave, too bad to stay” relationship. The episode concludes with a call to listeners to identify and enact bold moves as the new year approaches, emphasizing daily opportunities for improvement.
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Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. Let's get into it. Today I want to talk about the law of inertia. I want to talk about the law of inertia. Now, you've probably heard about the law of inertia. As a matter of fact, you You probably picked it up in elementary or middle school when you talked about Sir Isaac Newton, because the law of inertia is his first law of motion. And he stated it in 1687. The law of inertia, inertia, as says Newton, is that a body at rest will remain at rest, and a body in motion tends to stay in motion. Bodies will continue in their current state, whether at rest or in motion, and less acted on by a greater outside force. Now, why am I talking about this here today? It's because I believe humans are governed by the law of inertia too. People, just like asteroids, for example, are set on a path by early forces, and they continue on that path throughout their lives for better or for worse. Unless other forces alter its course. Like, uh, asteroids, we are oftentimes unaware of the course that we are on and what propels us down that path. But I use this metaphor of asteroid because we could picture ourselves operating as one. So an asteroid breaks off a larger body, it is floating through space, it is on a trajectory. And it will continue on that path indefinitely unless other forces alter its course. Now, we as humans, we are hardwired through genetics. You know, there are things that have occurred in our upbringing, influences, whatever it may be, things that were ingrained in us from a young age, and it set us on a certain path. These things put us on a certain path. And for many of us, while we may feel like we've grown or developed, the truth of the matter is we are still on that exact path. We have not altered all that great. Sure, maybe you're a little older, a little wiser, but take a step back and reflect. Do you have certain behaviors that you learned at a young age that maybe you wish you didn't still have, but you do? Do you have a certain mindset that was maybe ingrained in you by the influences of others in your world? Are there things that still haunt you a little bit that you learned when you were younger, less mature than you are today and less knowledgeable than you are today, but they still govern to some extent the decisions, the choices that you may make? I think we all have some of this. A body in motion tends to stay in motion unless of course there's a force that disrupts that. Now I talk about this because I think this, this helps us understand why it's so difficult for people to change their trajectory, change their life's trajectory. See, inertia describes not merely an energy, merely the energy acting on a static object, like gravity on, on a marble, on a ball bearing, on a marble table. It also can be used to discuss people in that people are in fact moving swiftly along a path driven by powerful life forces. Seeing people in this dynamic perspective completely changes the understanding of what it takes to bring change to the direction of people's lives. People aren't stuck. Many people say they're stuck. They're not stuck, stuck there. They may be dissatisfied, but they can in fact make change. Now the change can't be some sort of modest insight. It's not just an aha moment or a nudge even from a friend. That's not adequate force to counteract all of those early forces that initially drove us and maybe even have us on our same path. Instead, a great force has to be experienced. Great forces are already controlling our lives, so even greater forces must be applied if there's going to be significant change. So I want you to reflect on that for a moment, right? If you're on a current trajectory, recognize that inertia is driving you on that path. And unless there's a greater force, more than just an aha, more than just a book you read, more than just a quote you hear, you cannot move off that path. It has to be an even greater force than what you've historically, you know, have experienced or had ingrained. Let's talk about the law. I'm sorry. Let's talk about the zone of average and how that applies here. The zone of average is actually a really dangerous place when it comes to inertia, because it's the point where things are, are kind of working well enough for for you and you don't feel the need to make changes. We're kind of living in this, this average zone, this almost no man's land where, you know, things are going kind of well enough. And we may hope that things will say magically improve, but of course they, they never really do. A great example of this, and this was shared by Shane Parrish in his book Clear Thinking, a good example of what I'm describing here. Is when individuals stay in a relationship that is, I guess, too good to leave but too bad to stay in. That's the perfect example of the zone of average. If things were much worse, we would take action, but since they're not terrible, we stay and hope things get better. So this zone of average is a really dangerous place when it comes to inertia. Now, going back to the original premise, what I was talking about, about humans You know, really being governed by these laws of inertia. The focusing question then becomes, if I want to change my path, if I want to change my trajectory, and the subtle nudges or the gentle force that's being applied is not going to really do it, then what is the major force? What is the greater force or forces that I have to seek, that I have to You know, energize in order to change that trajectory. When I reflect on my, my own, you know, world specifically, let's say business, I can point to 2 or 3 things that have occurred for me over the past 2 decades that led to a changing course for the positive, that, that changed the trajectory. I was humming along, let's say on a, on a, you know, rather standard slow progression. Things were going up, But it was 2 or 3 key decisions or relationships or investments in, in me personally that kind of disrupted that trajectory and changed the angle of its path. And then eventually kind of flatlined a little bit. You know, it was plateauing a little bit. And then there was a big experience or choice or decision or investment that changed that trajectory again. Again, picture an asteroid floating through space. It will continue on that path unless there's a force greater than that path that disrupts the angle in which it's going. Now, of course, I'm talking about inertia being disrupted or being, you know, driving it upwards. On the same— I mean, we might as well recognize that there are things that could also disrupt a force that could drive us down versus up. But for sake of today's conversation, I'm talking about if you want to make improvements, if you want to make big jumps, if you don't want to operate in the zone of average, then what are the big moves? What are the risks even you're willing to take to bet on yourself and get out of this world, this range that so many, the status quo, operate within? The focus for you— what moves, in fact, what decisions do you need to consider especially as we roll into a new year, to create a new you, right? It's kind of cliché, but it's such a true statement. That's all I have for you today, the No Days Off Podcast. Thank you so much for listening, and remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it. [MUSIC] [MUSIC]
