I began coaching in 2017. By late 2018, I was making steady progress when an experienced coach told me, “Most coaches give up within the first three years.”
It made me ask: would I be one of them?
I decided 2019 would be my year of Massive Action. I published The Clarity First, created Clarity Hive, launched group coaching, developed what later became the Emerging Leaders Mentoring Program, and built my identity as a Business Clarity Coach.
I experimented, stumbled, learned, and kept moving.
By 2020, I was still coaching, not because I had simply survived three years, but because I had created momentum.
That experience taught me something simple: transformation comes from action, not intention.
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But not all action creates progress. Meaningful action begins when clear thinking is supported by a compelling reason to move.
Thoughts give direction. Emotions give energy. But leadership growth depends on action.
Most emerging leaders already know what they should do: delegate, give difficult feedback, address underperformance, manage stakeholders, take ownership, and think ahead.
Yet they remain stuck.
The real gap is rarely between ignorance and knowledge. It is between knowing and doing.
Inertia often disguises itself as busyness, preparation, patience, perfectionism, or waiting for the right moment.
Agility begins when leaders recognise that resistance—and move anyway.
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Problem: Inertia, the Silent Villain
Agility is the ability to move quickly and easily. In leadership, it means sensing change, making sense of it, choosing the right response, and acting without unnecessary delay.
It is not speed for its own sake. Agile leaders adapt without losing sight of purpose. They learn, unlearn, relearn, and move even when every answer is not yet clear.
If agility is the hero of leadership, inertia is the villain.
Inertia is the tendency to remain unchanged. Newton’s first law says an object at rest stays at rest unless a force acts on it. Human behaviour can work much the same way.
We stay with familiar routines, beliefs, roles, and even problems because familiar discomfort often feels safer than unfamiliar possibility.
Inertia rarely looks dramatic. It sounds like: “I’ll start next month.” “I’m not ready yet.” “Let me think about it.” “Things are fine.”
Small excuses. Powerful brakes.
It shows up in different disguises:
- Fear – “I can’t take the chance.” “What if I fail?”
- Practicality – “I don’t have the time, skills, or resources.”
- Past experience – “I tried it before.” “This has never worked.”
- Status quo protection – “Why change? It’s working reasonably well.”
- Transferred responsibility – “It’s not my problem.” “My boss won’t support it.”
- Endless analysis – “I need to think about it.” “I’m just not sure.”
One of inertia’s cleverest disguises is: “You’re right, but…” Everything before “but” accepts the need for change; everything after it avoids it.
In my sessions, I ask participants to identify the phrases that reveal their own inertia. Mine include: “I tried it before.” “I’m doing fine as I am.” and “You’re right, but…”
Naming these excuses doesn’t eliminate them, but it makes them much harder to hide behind.
Try this: Take a few minutes and write five sentences in this format — “I want to [goal], but [reason for inaction].” For example:
- “I want to delegate more to my team, but I keep thinking it’ll be faster if I do it myself.”
- “I want to start tracking project metrics regularly, but every week feels too busy to begin.”
- “I want to give feedback to an underperforming team member, but I keep postponing the difficult conversation.”
- “I want to explore new business opportunities, but I remain stuck in firefighting mode with existing clients.”
Until an excuse is made visible, it keeps operating silently. Writing it down is a small act, but it changes the relationship – an unspoken excuse controls you; a written one, you can finally argue with.
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Impact: The Cost of Waiting for Readiness
A few years before COVID-19, I met a professional who wanted to become an entrepreneur and support people facing mental-health challenges.
“When will you start?” I asked.
“Maybe in two years,” he said. He wanted more skills, more marketing knowledge, and more savings first.
I told him entrepreneurship rarely begins when you feel fully ready. It begins when you create value with what you have and learn the rest along the way.
He didn’t start then. He still hasn’t.
During the pandemic, millions struggled with anxiety, isolation, and emotional distress. His idea might have helped some of them. The loss was not only his. It was also the value that never reached others.
That is the hidden cost of inertia.
Delayed action does not only delay your growth. It can delay difficult conversations, better decisions, succession plans, useful ideas, and contributions others may be waiting for.
This cost is invisible. No report tells you what did not happen because you waited.
The only question is whether you participate consciously, or react later. Readiness is a moving target that keeps moving precisely because we keep waiting for it. The professional in my story is a reminder that “someday” has a way of quietly becoming “never.”
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Solution: Moving from Inertia to Agility
Three things move us from inertia to agility: Inner Force + External Force + Clarity
1. Inner Force
A useful way to understand the forces behind change is through the change formula:
D × V × FS > RC
Where:
D — Dissatisfaction with the current state
V — Vision of the desired future and what could be possible
FS — Clarity and feasibility of the First Step towards that vision
RC — Resistance to Change
The formula is simple: change happens when dissatisfaction, vision, and a clear first step together outweigh resistance.
Its power lies in multiplication. If any one factor is weak, momentum drops.
Dissatisfaction without vision creates frustration. Vision without urgency creates delay. And both without a clear first step create hesitation.
Sometimes change is driven by the pull of a better future. At other times, by the discomfort of the present. Both are valid.
The key is to recognise which force is strongest for you—and use it to move.
Even then, one uncomfortable action usually remains.
Brian Tracy calls it “Eat That Frog”: do the most important, most difficult task first.
Eat the frog
Even after deciding to change, there’s usually one uncomfortable action we keep avoiding. Brian Tracy’s phrase “Eat That Frog” captures the idea of tackling the most important, most difficult task first.
If you have a task you dread, do it first thing in the morning. That makes the rest of your day genuinely productive. Push it to the end of the day instead, and you’ll carry the weight of it around for hours without getting much else done — worry is a poor substitute for progress.
For leaders, the frog is rarely a spreadsheet – it’s almost always something emotionally uncomfortable. A few common ones:
1. The Tough Conversation Frog – Addressing underperformance, misalignment, or conflict directly.
Mind says: “It’s uncomfortable, let me wait for the right time.”
In truth, short-term harmony feels safer than long-term clarity.
2. The Delegation Frog – Truly empowering someone instead of doing it yourself.
Mind says: “It’s faster if I do it.”
Control feels efficient; trust feels risky.
3. The Strategy Reflection Frog – Stepping back to review direction, priorities, and alignment.
Mind says: “I’m too busy with daily chaos.”
Urgency is addictive; thinking starts to feel optional.
4. The Reactive-Day Frog – Planning the day intentionally instead of reacting to emails and calls.
Mind says: “There’s too much to plan, I’ll just survive today.”
Reacting feels productive; planning feels slow.
5. The Bottleneck Frog – Building systems so work moves without you.
Mind says: “They still need me in everything.”
Being needed feels important; letting go can feel like losing relevance.
6. The Emotional-Ownership Frog – Admitting you’re hurt, insecure, or afraid.
Mind says: “I’m fine, this doesn’t affect me.”
Suppression feels like strength, but unacknowledged emotion keeps shaping our behaviour anyway.
In 2021, I had been postponing my Josh Talks recording for almost a year. Then I stopped waiting to feel ready, decided to “eat the frog,” and finished it within two weeks.
The task moved quickly once I confronted it. Often, the discomfort of doing something is far smaller than the discomfort we create by delaying it.
2. External Force
Inner force is necessary, but willpower alone is unreliable — our environment shapes our behaviour far more than we like to admit. Agility becomes easier when the people and spaces around us actively support movement rather than quietly working against it.
Build a Personal Board of Directors
One powerful practice is to build a Personal Board of Directors (PBOD) — a trusted group of five to seven people who can guide different areas of your career, business, health, and life. This might include mentors, coaches, peers, family members, subject-matter experts, trainers, or doctors.
A diverse board keeps you from making every decision alone, in your own head, with only your own biases for company.
My own ecosystem includes people who guide me on finance, coaching, facilitation, fitness, and health — I don’t expect any one person to hold every answer, and I don’t have to.
Design your physical space
Your physical space shapes how you think and work. When I created Clarity Hive in Gurgaon, every element; from natural light and open space to writable surfaces and private rooms; was designed to support clarity, creativity, and focus.
Look at your own workspace: does it enable your best thinking, or quietly create distraction?
Don’t rely on discipline alone. Design the environment to help you.
Design an environment that makes the behaviour you want easier, and the behaviour you don’t want harder.
Find an Accountability Partner
An accountability partner supplies the external force that turns intention into action. Identify one person who can play this role for you. Decide how often you will connect, which commitments you will review, and how honestly both of you are willing to speak.
An accountability partner plays four distinct roles:
- As a Mirror: by reflecting your goals, excuses, and recurring patterns back to you. “You said this was a priority last week. What shifted?”
- As a Challenger: by pushing you beyond your comfort zone and exposing blind spots without unnecessary judgment. “Are you playing it safe here, or is this genuinely your best option?”
- As a Cheerleader: by recognising progress and keeping you encouraged when results take time. “You showed up even when it was difficult. That matters.”
- As a Reminder System: by helping you review commitments and stay consistent. “You planned to send the proposal by Friday. Did it go out?”
Accountability is not policing. It is a structure that protects us from our own inconsistency.
I once asked a fellow coach who could hold her accountable. She smiled and said, “My eight-year-old son. He won’t let me miss a commitment because I do the same for him.”
It was funny, but true: the best accountability partner is often simply the person who will remember, ask, and not let you escape your own promise.
3. Clarity
Get clear on who you want to become, and why
Action becomes far more sustainable when it’s connected to identity. Don’t ask only “What do I need to do?” Also ask “Who do I want to become?”
I began physical strength training not merely because I wanted to complete a set of exercises, but because I wanted to become a more energetic Business Clarity Coach.
The routine was tied to an identity, not just a task list. When an action becomes part of who you’re becoming, it carries deeper meaning — you’re no longer just attending the gym, reading a book, delegating a task, or having a difficult conversation. You’re becoming healthier, wiser, more trusting, more courageous, or more effective.
Goals tell you what you want to achieve; identity tells you who you’re choosing to become while achieving it and that clarity is what supplies the emotional energy to actually follow through.
A simple tip: the two-minute rule
Not every action needs a framework. Sometimes, the best way past inertia is simply to shorten the gap between intention and action.
Use the two-minute rule: if something takes less than two minutes, do it now. Send the message. Confirm the meeting. Set the reminder. Ask for help. Write the first sentence.
Small actions create movement. Movement builds momentum. Momentum makes bigger actions easier.
Agility is rarely one dramatic leap. More often, it is a series of small actions taken without unnecessary delay.
Summary
Agility is not a fixed trait. It is a practice strengthened every time you question an excuse, take a first step, seek support, confront discomfort, or adjust course.
You do not need complete confidence, every skill, or the full journey mapped out before you begin. Confidence grows through action. Skills develop through doing. Clarity comes one step at a time.
Inertia waits for readiness. Agility moves before readiness feels complete.
Return to your inertia list and choose just one item. Ask: What am I dissatisfied with? What future do I want? What is the smallest first step? What is holding me back? Who can keep me accountable?
And most importantly — what action can I take now?
A Message to Emerging Leaders
If there is one message from this series, it is this: you already know more than you are acting on.
You do not need another framework or perfect clarity. Notice where inertia has taken hold and take one meaningful step.
Confidence, skill, and clarity usually follow action, not precede it.
Emerging leadership is about closing the gap between knowing and doing. That is where agility grows.
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This is the last blog in this series for Emerging Leaders. If you’re keen to bring these ideas into your organisation, please reach out to me.
Till the next series begins, keep smiling.
#BusinessClarityCoach #LeadWithClarity #AlignYourTeam #AmplifyImpact #EmergingLeaders#Agility #Inertia
