00:00:00 Thanks for joining me on episode 604 of the inspired stewardship podcast. I'm RJ Jackson, the courage giver. I encourage you to have the courage you need to live your calling, and one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this, the inspired stewardship podcast with my friend Scott Mader those in your day at the times of the day that you have the most mental and physical energy, try to put those willpower task early so that you don't lose them. This helps you overcome the inertia that's keeping you back,
00:00:50 and then once you're moving, reduce interruptions, try to turn off notifications. Welcome and thank you for joining us on the inspired stewardship podcasts. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling. In the inspired stewardship podcast, we'll learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence so that you can in today's episode about investing in others through stewarding your talent,
00:01:31 I talk with you about why momentum is powerful, why inertia is a force that can hold you back or help you win, and how to create momentum if you're starting something new. You've heard me talk about developing your talent and one of the best ways to do that is through books, but if you're like most people today, it's hard to find the time to read and that's why today's podcast is brought to you by audible. Go to inspired stewardship.com/audible to sign up and you can get a 30 day free trial.
00:02:08 There's over 180,000 titles to choose from and you can pick one and listen your way to developing your talents via audible. That's inspired stewardship.com/audible to get your free trial and listen to great books the same way you're listening to this podcast, momentum and inertia. You know, I was a physics teacher for a number of years, and these ideas from physics, the laws of motion,
00:02:41 the idea of momentum, the idea of inertia forces, all of these sorts of things. It's interesting how those translate over to your mindset,
00:02:51 your belief, your productivity, your ability to get things done with your time, your talent and your money.
00:02:58 These things kind of translate. Even though the forces are really about moving objects and they're about, you know,
00:03:06 things in the physical world. It turns out that these same ideas have some parallels in the internal world as well.
00:03:15 So, you know, let's kind of talk a little bit about what these things are. Momentum is the,
00:03:22 the idea that a momentum in physics is simply does find as the quality or quantity, the amount of a moving body.
00:03:35 Usually it has to do with the mass of the body. You know, the heavier an object is,
00:03:40 and that's not correct. And truly physics terms, please don't write me letters. It's, it's how the thing goes.
00:03:47 Something that's moving, continues to gain energy. It's about the motion of something. And inertia is the law of motion that says an object in motion tends to remain in motion while an object at rest tends to remain at rest until acted upon by an outside force.
00:04:15 Here's what's interesting. Those same two forces act on you internally when you're doing something, when you're, when you're starting a new project,
00:04:25 when you're facing something where you want to get something done in terms of productivity, where you're looking to change your behavior with money or do something new with how you approach your money.
00:04:35 Anytime you're trying to change external actions that are related, at least in part to your mindset, your internal belief system,
00:04:46 momentum and inertia begin to act upon you within you and affect how you get things done. You know,
00:04:56 positive momentum will really help you keep moving and get things done. The energy moving in a good direction and it continues to compound on itself.
00:05:07 You've probably had those days where you're getting something done and it just feels unstoppable. The forward motion of just getting it done,
00:05:16 knocking things down off the list, knocking things down and getting everything done really well feels powerful. But you've also had those days where you feel like you're stuck in molasses.
00:05:29 You feel like you're not able to move forward, that nothing that you do gets moving, and this is this idea of negative momentum or inertia,
00:05:38 something that's holding you back from moving forward. See, momentum is a powerful force because when it's more working with you,
00:05:51 you begin to add to it. The power of forward motion begins to add more forward emotion. The ball gets rolling,
00:06:00 so to speak. Think about it again. You've had those days, you've had those days where everything is happening,
00:06:06 right, but I bet you've also had those days where just felt like nothing would go right. So momentum is a powerful forward force,
00:06:17 at least once you get moving. Let's talk a little bit about inertia. Inertia. When you're moving means it's easy to keep going,
00:06:27 but inertia when you're not yet moving means it's hard to get started. This is the thing that can hold you back,
00:06:36 but it's also a force that can help you win because once you start moving forward, it's easier to continue to go.
00:06:43 Think about it. You've had those days where it just feels like a slow start to the day and nothing's going right and nothing's really moving.
00:06:51 And then finally you get some forward momentum. Some things begin to go your way. You'd cop chop a couple of things off in the list.
00:07:00 You look up and before you know it, four hours have gone by and you've gotten a ton done because a nurse started working for you.
00:07:08 So how can you use these ideas and recognize their internal nature and use them to actually get you moving if you feel stuck in that negative place,
00:07:21 well first off, you want to look for the things that are holding you back. Look for the opposing forces that push back against you and keep you from moving forward.
00:07:32 Sometimes they're internal, sometimes they're external. This is why, you know, having a clean work environment for some people is really important because it helps them continue to focus and move forward in an effective way.
00:07:46 This is why making sure that you do things like set up your computer in a way where the distractions are removed from the beginning.
00:07:55 You know from the front facing thing, you don't see Facebook first thing in the morning. All of these things can help you begin to build forward momentum.
00:08:05 Also, look for the smallest action you can take that gets you moving forward. You know, if you want to go for a run and you're struggling with this idea,
00:08:15 just put on your running shoes and your running shorts and get ready, right? Maybe fill your water bottle that you take with you on the run.
00:08:25 This small action often is enough to then jump start you and get you moving. It's why writers often will start their writing day with a free writing exercise where they just sit down with a piece of paper and start writing sentences.
00:08:39 It doesn't even matter if they make sense because their goal isn't to write gold at that point. Their goal is to just get started writing because once they do it,
00:08:52 it begins to move forward. Look for ways to reward yourself whenever you do get forward. Mom-ish male meant to look for ways to tie that into things that are important to you,
00:09:04 both internally and external rewards. Both begin to form a habit and a pattern where you know if from two to three every day is your writing block.
00:09:15 Then after a while, that becomes such a habit, so ingrained that to not write during that time feels weird.
00:09:24 It's also important to take care of your health and your mindset and your body taking breaks. This is why Pomodoros are so effective.
00:09:31 These work blocks with enforced breaks take find ways to sustain your energy. Also, look at the flow of tasks that you need to do.
00:09:41 If you have tasks that are going to require high mind energy, put those in your day at the times of the day that you have the most mental and physical energy.
00:09:52 Try to put those willpower task early so that you don't lose them. This helps you overcome the inertia that's keeping you back and then once you're moving,
00:10:05 reduce interruptions. Try to turn off notifications, pay attention to doing one task at a time. Don't multitask and try to do multiple things.
00:10:15 Look for the ways that you can focus in and just knock things off your list. If you do this,
00:10:23 that keeps your forward momentum going and keeps you moving, and before you know it, you will have gotten more done than you ever thought you could.
00:10:33 Thanks for listening. Thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship podcast. As a subscriber and listener,
00:10:45 we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling.
00:10:56 If you like this episode on the stewardship of talent, you can go over to inspired stewardship.com/talent and sign up for our five week series on the stewardship of talent.
00:11:10 Or if you're in the U S you can text four, four two, two two talent tips. That's talent tips to four,
00:11:20 four, two, two, two and get those tips. Until next time, invest your time, your talent,
00:11:26 and your treasures. Develop your influence and impact the world.