The Bias for Action: Escaping the Inertia of Comfort
On my ‘Welcome‘ page, I share the brief story that planted the seed for this entire project: an encounter on Ash Wednesday that ended with an electrician telling me, “But you aren’t like that.”
I didn’t know it at the time, but that interaction was a spark. It named a quiet restlessness I had been carrying. It forced me to ask what kind of Catholic, what kind of father, and what kind of man I actually was when the cultural presets were stripped away.
But a spark left alone will simply burn out. This is a reflection on what you do after the spark, the choice to reject passivity and to cultivate a bias for action.
The Small Hinge
When I first felt the need to live more intentionally, I took inventory of my time. It was entirely monopolized by the heavy demands of my family and my work in construction management, leaving only fragments of spare time here and there.
I knew that a grand, sweeping overhaul of my schedule would fail, so, I started small. I decided to introduce a single point of friction into my routine: to read the upcoming Sunday Mass readings during the week.
It was a small but intentional window carved out of the week. The goal was simply to feel prepared each weekend, so that if, and when, my inquisitive young son inevitably asked a question about the Gospel, I had an answer ready, or was at least prepared to discuss. And that small, deliberate choice was the beginning. It was not a massive leap, but it was an action. And action changes the math of a life.
Avoiding the Easy Button
Life is defined by a continuous sequence of choices between the right path and the easy one. We have grown accustomed to a culture of convenience, where the world is curated for us at the edge of a screen.
This convenience spoils us. It tempts us to become passive consumers of our own lives. How often do we choose the path of least resistance, letting a weekend slip away into scrolling, avoiding the difficult conversation with a spouse, or choosing the couch over physical discipline?
The Physics of Intentionality
Let’s take Newton’s first law: an object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion stays in motion, unless acted upon by an external force. This is not just a rule of the physical universe; it is a law of human nature. When you are stagnant, the inertia of comfort makes taking the first step feel impossibly heavy. But the moment you apply an external force, going the other way to put positive movement into your life, you break the inertia.
And with that new force, subsequent decisions begin to align. Momentum carries the day. What starts as a quiet decision to embrace physical friction spills over into the clarity and patience you bring to your family. The beauty of this law is that you have the agency to be the external force in your own life.
The Choice of Motion
There will always be seasons that require quiet patience and discernment. But the general trajectory of your life must be propelled by active choices, not passive defaults.
Do not wait for the perfect schedule or the ideal circumstance to begin building the person you are called to be. Introduce the necessary friction. Break the inertia.
The momentum starts now.