Activation energy

Consider how much effort it takes to grab a piece of fruit under different circumstances.

If it’s in front of you in reaching distance, the effort is pretty low.

If you are in one part of your home and the fruit is in another, and you must get up to walk to the fruit, the effort is a little higher.

If the fruit is nowhere to be found in your home and you must go to your nearest fruit stand or grocer to purchase the fruit, the effort is even higher.

The varying degrees of energy required to grab the fruit in each example can be thought of as activation energy — the amount of effort required for something to happen.

And with each step up in effort, the probability that you’ll actually eat the fruit lowers by some amount.

If you want to make an outcome more likely, make it easy.

If something requires the participation of others, make it easy for them.

If you have aspirations to conduct yourself in a certain way, make it easier for you.

If you make ease the main thing you optimize for — ease-of-access, ease-of-use, ease-of-doing — you’ll make a lot of progress.