Before I get started, I want to ask a favor. As you listen today, if you like what you hear, would you please sit down and write a review. You want to discuss anything from this episode, you can reach out on the Strive Seek Find page on Facebook, or to @Chancewhitmore5 on Twitter. So I'm rolling this rock up a hill, it's not so bad. I'm making progress. It's getting closer and closer to the top. And just as I get to the top, just as I'm ready to heat it, something shifts back hard down to the bottom of the hill. With the rock bouncing in hard pursuit. It goes right over the top a couple of times till it comes to rest even farther down the hill than you started. Maybe this rock has 2020 carved into it. Maybe it represents a habit. Either way, that bad boy has kicked our ever loving rear. Welcome to the Strive Seek Find podcast. I'm Chance Whitmore, sometimes I'm my own worst enemy. The statement could be true for many of us for over over 100 different reasons. Today, I want to touch on one inertia. For our purposes today, we're going to use two definitions of inertia. The first a property of matter which remains at rest or moving in the straight line unless acted upon by an outside force, or the tendency not to move or change. Now let's get started. at the best of times challenging self is difficult. And changing yourself more so. And this year. This seems to be true in spades. The excuses are built in and many of us are gravitating to them. For instance, let's talk about me and working out. About a year and a half ago. I was in a truck accident. Well, it was more of a l con pickup truck crime. But I digress. Suffice it to say my truck was crunched. And I got out fairly well off. I was wearing a seat belt. And so I had a sore back. And because I locked up on the steering wheel, some terrible elbow tendinitis. This is where inertia comes in. I allowed the accident to be a force, one that knocked me off my course. In the year plus prior, I built a habit. I've been in the gym five to six days a week, I dumped 40 plus pounds, I felt better than I had years, I'd gotten to the point where I bought a program from a trainer. And it was working great. I've taken away the excuse of having not enough time by finding workouts that took about 30 minutes. If you got in and got after him live lots of lightweight lifting lots of what's known as Burst Training, which in turn means not a lot of traditional cardio. And in place of all this comes physical therapy. So I gave into excuses. Five to six days became two to three eventually became none. It was because my elbow hurt to the point I couldn't lift anything. It was because I don't want to go run on a treadmill for 30 minutes, I had an excuse for everything. And suddenly, I was running wearing a Simpsonesque but groove into my couch. And all the inertia had built up was replaced by a complete lack of movement. So it was crashing birth, weight loss ends, weight gain begins. And suddenly I was further behind than I was before. And when the pain went away, the inertia of excuses remained. At one level or another, we can find ourselves getting sucked into working against our own best interest. But 2020 adds difficulty level. Just the loss of normal has made things more difficult. And for those of you around this country and around the world, who have been truly locked down in small apartments for long periods of time and is still saying respect. I'd lost it by now. Think about these challenges, with or without COVID start with Interior entertainment versus getting out. There are many places that I've traditionally gone with my family by myself, that aren't even an option now. And because what's normal is gone, it's really easy to get tunnel vision. And forget, there's still places to get out and breathe. For instance, the town we live in has a huge Christmas light display. It is beautiful. And we go down every year and wander through huge crowds and have hot cocoa and generally have a good time as a family. Not really an option for us this year, though a lot of people have chosen to do it that way. So my wife and I decided to get a little crazy about it. Or just think outside the box, depending on how you look at it. We didn't want to give up the lights. But we didn't want to be in crowds. We picked a Saturday morning, we got up at 5:45 and had the entire place to ourselves. It was unique treat, easy to get pictures, you weren't tripping over the top of other people wandering through the same site you were and we made it something special, grabbed kids hot cocoa, grab a doughnut for breakfast on the way home. And overall, it was a great time by just stepping a little bit out of the box. The ease of buying something new rather than fixing or making something work. This is where the blessing or Curse of Amazon comes into play. It has replaced wandering the vaunted aisles of target. As one of my wife's favorite things to do to find solutions to problems we didn't know we had. For instance, I have a fancy new blue butter dish. Why? Because partway through quarantine, my wife decided that the plate that had been serving that purpose for five or six years was no longer sufficient. It was a stress response, we both knew it. But stead of making do it became a purchase and an unnecessary one at that. We have the desire to buy takeout. Rather than making healthy choices at home. Maybe you've missed the ability to eat out, maybe it's the legitimate need to support local restaurants, because I know they're suffering. Maybe it's you're wanting to stress eat some sort of garbage that you don't make at home. Or maybe you just can't stand your own cooking anymore. So it becomes an easy habit to get into. I've ordered more pizza for my family since March than I have in any given point in my life, including when I was a bachelor, it became an easy habit to spend the money rather than cook something that was good for us. Not a weekly thing by any means. But a really bad habit nonetheless, because it cost and because it's just not healthy. And to bring it back for my example of exercise. For some there's a myth that self care means taking it easy, laying on the couch instead of working out. And when the time came this fall to put aside my shorts and my sweat pants, and to go to in person work again. Let's just say it didn't necessarily fit right. And so my wife and I brushed off the interval training, I was using pre elk and got back down to business. And I will tell you getting back to it has been an uphill push and continues to be ultimately we are creatures of habit. We don't necessarily like change, even those of us who claim we do like to feel like we're in control of it. And right now, we continue to experienced force change. And the habits we're forming now are oftentimes less than optimal for coming out of the pandemic. On the other hand, if we're purposeful and creating our new habits, we can come out of these times using the new tools to fit the new world with the right inertia. Set yourself on course for long term success for what ever vision you set for yourself. Honestly, this comes down to our own headspace. Inertia is the enemy of challenge and the enemy of growth. Our solution is to recognize it. analyze it It, attack it, begin creating the new habit. Move your inertia, and choice forward. So to go back to my Sisphysian example, roll that boulder up the hill. And if that damn thing runs over a few times, you keep coming back and attacking the habit. And eventually you crest the hill, and it will make it worth it. Shout out. Aviation lost pioneer last week. Chuck Yeager, the man who first successfully broke the sound barrier and the ex one passed away at 97. He was a person I idolized growing up, and it made me think the pioneers last century are passing on. Please take a moment and raise a glass for the fallen hero. worth mentioning. Today's worth mentioning comes from the Scientific American. The title of the article is simply do we live in a simulation? Chances are 50-50 by Anil Anathaswamy f om October of 2020 takes a l ok into recent research into s mulation theory. And if you e er watched the matrix, you h ve at least the broad strokes o the idea of what simulation t eory might be. This article takes a look how it's going to be proved or disproved going for it. The author puts together in wonderfully readable detail as it posits different ways, researchers are looking at the theory and their results. Probably the most interesting things to me revolves around computing power and relating it to modern video games. The title doesn't give away as much as you'd think. And if you're the least bit interested in science, go check this out. That's it for this week's edition of Strive Seek Find. If you like what you heard, please subscribe. If you want to discuss this episode, or have an idea, reach out at @ChanceWhi more5 on Twitter. Until next tim, keep seeking your own brillian future. Have a great day.