Leadership and Procrastination

Inertia is the tendency a thing has to stay “as is”. If it's moving, it wants to keep moving. If it’s not moving, it tends to remain stationary.

The only way to overcome inertia is to apply some other force. For example, if a ball is sitting on the floor, the only thing that will move that ball is the application of some new force—like a kick.

Similarly, if a person is procrastinating, only some extra force will get that person moving — perhaps a kick.

Emotion is a source of energy that gets people going. Emotion is the source of motivation.

Look at all those ‘mo’ words! (coming from the Latin root meaning “motion”)

Anyway, sometimes when I wake up, and there's nothing obliging me to actually get out of bed, I play a little game with myself. It was first written about by William James over a hundred years ago. He said to let your thoughts go free knowing that one of them will spring you to your feet; one of them will contain the magical emotional energy.

I lie there and scan through the various things going on in my life. Indeed, when my attention lands on something about which I feel emotional, I'm up. It happens every time.

In that sense, I trigger my own emotions.

And sometimes I trigger the emotions of others.

In fact, I happen to believe that triggering the emotions of others - in a positive kind of way, of course - is the job of a leader.