I found myself thinking back to my high school physics classes recently.
There was one idea that stuck with me more than I expected: Newton’s First Law of Motion.
Back then, it felt like just another formula to memorise.
But as I have grown older, I have started seeing parts of my life inside that simple statement.
Newton said something like this:
A body at rest stays at rest, and a body in motion stays in motion, unless acted upon by an external force.
Put simply: things remain exactly as they are until something acts on them to change.
The more I thought about it, the more uncomfortable the connection became. Because our lives often play out the same way.
I realised that most days, I follow the same script without thinking:
Wake up.
Go to work.
Do what I did yesterday.
Drive home using the same route.
Scroll through my phone the same way.
Different days. Same movement.
And here’s the part that hit me:
We rarely change direction unless something forces us to.
Think about it.
How many only start paying attention to their finances after debt finally catches up with them?
How many people only start a business after retiring or losing a job?
How many only change their health after a doctor gives a warning?
How many only learn to prioritise family after a scare wakes them up?
Just like Newton described, we remain in motion or remain stuck until something hits us hard enough to push us somewhere else.
That realisation stung a little, because I saw myself in it too.
The Lesson: We Are Not Objects—We Don’t Need a Force to Change
We are not stationary bodies.
We don’t have to wait for life to push us off the path we are stuck in.
Routine has its place.
But when routine becomes a trap, it stops being stability and starts becoming stagnation.
The truth is simple:
Sometimes the “external force” you are waiting for… is You.
Change doesn’t have to come from external forces.
Sometimes, it can come from us.
A small shift.
A new habit.
A different choice.
A willingness to step outside the box you have been living in.
Routine is useful.
But routine can also turn into inertia—the silent force that keeps us living the same year repeatedly, only with different calendars.
And so I have been asking myself this question lately:
What small action can I take that shifts my direction—before life is forced to do it for me?
Maybe that’s the question worth asking today.
Not because we need to abandon our routines…
But because every so often, we need to remind ourselves:
A meaningful life is not lived in autopilot.
And we don’t need a crisis to change course.
So as you think about where you are today, ask yourself:
What small force will you apply to your own trajectory this week—before life decides to apply it for you?
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