Strength is the force that beats inertia

Jan 27, 2023

It is amazing how science, physics, philosophy and psychology come together on certain concepts. For example, STRENGTH can be seen as a force capable of moving a person between states of activity and inactivity. In physics, the corresponding term is FORCE, which refers to an external agent that moves an object from a state of Inertia but also evokes, in a figurative sense, a potentiality, an inner energy moving out of a state of inactivity. The very etymology of the word “INERTIA” (in meaning “lack” and ars, art or activity, i.e., “lack of activity”) communicates a condition of immobility or inactivity, be it physical or spiritual.

On the one hand, all historians of physics agree that it was the physicist and scientist Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1726) who definitively expressed the “Principle of Inertia” (or Newton’s first law), which states that every object remains at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change its state by Forces imposed upon it. On the other hand, there is no unanimous consensus regarding the lineage of this principle’s discovery, since there are other scientists and prominent figures who have made their own statements on the subject.

Galileo Galilei (1564–1642), considered the father of modern science and the scientific method, posited that an object without Forces acting upon it remains in a state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line until an external Force intervenes to interrupt it.

In philosophy, René Descartes (1596–1650) also stated the principle of inertia in very similar terms, namely that any object, insofar as it is simple, remains in the same state and is never changed, unless by external causes (or Forces).

And one must not forget about Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), the undisputed polymath in science, art and technology for the benefit of learning about Nature and Man. Leonardo, some two centuries before his fellow scientists, had already realised that a Force is something that creates a change of state in bodies that are in equilibrium with their external environment in a state of rest. Bodies touched by the Force come to life and generate changes to achieve a new equilibrium, and thus a new configuration. In this regard, his first definition of Force is even more important: “Force is a spiritual Virtue, an invisible power which, by accidental, external, violence, is caused by motion, introduced and infused into bodies […] compelling and transmuting all created things from their places.”

Here is where Leonardo’s conception of FORCE as something more than an external agent or cause links to our understanding of STRENGTH: an inner Virtue⁽¹⁾, an invisible, immaterial power that stirs INERTIA, triggering movement and thus change⁽²⁾ in state. What are your Strengths? How do you identify them? How best do you empower and use them? In which direction do you want to channel them? What Force do you need to move your Inertia?

A Business Coach does much more than give you the answers to these and other questions: Coaching makes you find the answers you have within you which are surely the ones you need at that moment of “inertia” to motivate you towards a new, more satisfying balance!

Author: Valentina Reiner

Valentina Reiner is Certified Business Coach (CBC™) by Worldwide Association of Business Coaches (WABC), European Individual Accreditation (EIA) Coach/Mentor at Senior Practitioner Level by European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC), Neuromanager Positivo Applicato (NPA®) by Apprendo Academy