🎯 The Friction Audit
What’s making your life harder than it needs to be?
Read time: 3.9 minutes
Welcome to Better at Life, the weekly newsletter where I share one simple, actionable idea you can put into practice today to build better habits, sharpen your mindset, and live with more intention.
A few months ago, I missed a week of this newsletter.
At first, I told myself I just hadn’t managed my time well.
I was busy.
Life got full.
But when I looked more closely, that wasn’t really the problem.
The hardest part wasn’t writing.
It was starting.
Every week, I felt like I needed to begin with a brand-new idea.
A blank page.
A perfect framework.
That pressure created just enough resistance to make, “I’ll work on it tomorrow,” feel reasonable.
So instead of asking,
“Why am I procrastinating?”
I asked a different question.
What’s creating friction?
The answer wasn’t a lack of discipline.
It was my system.
I started keeping a running list of newsletter ideas, observations, and rough outlines throughout the week.
Now, when it’s time to write, I’m not starting from zero.
I’m continuing something that’s already in motion.
That got me thinking.
How many things in our lives feel difficult not because they’re hard…
But because we’ve made them harder than they need to be?
I call this The Friction Audit.
A simple way to identify the small obstacles that quietly stand between you and the life you want.
Write this down:
Before you ask for more discipline, ask what’s creating unnecessary friction.
This Week’s Action
Choose one habit, goal, or routine that’s been harder to stick with than it should be.
Then ask yourself:
What’s making this more difficult than it needs to be?
Look for the little things.
Examples:
- your phone is always within reach
- your workspace is cluttered
- you haven’t decided what matters most today
- healthy meals require too much effort
- notifications constantly interrupt your focus
- your calendar has no time blocked for deep work
- you wait until the last minute to begin
Now remove just one source of friction.
Not all of them.
Just one.
Small changes often create surprising momentum.
Why This Works
We like to believe success comes from willpower.
But willpower is expensive.
Good systems are cheaper.
Every unnecessary step, decision, or inconvenience increases the chance you’ll avoid the behavior altogether.
Every bit of friction you remove makes the right choice easier.
That’s why the most consistent people don’t always have more discipline.
They often have fewer obstacles.
Try This
Walk through your day as if you’re seeing it for the first time.
Ask yourself:
Where do I regularly get stuck?
Where do I lose momentum?
Where do I make things harder than they need to be?
Then fix the environment before trying to fix yourself.
It’s often the simpler solution.
Weekly Reflection
Before you move on from this email, pause for a moment.
Ask yourself:
What habit feels harder than it should?
What’s one obstacle I can remove today?
Where have I been blaming myself instead of improving my system?
Write it down.
Then make one small adjustment.
If this idea feels useful, feel free to pass it along to someone who might need it this week.
A better life isn’t always built by pushing harder.
Sometimes it’s built by making the right things easier.
See you next week — a little better at life.
______
Dr. Chris Mullen
Bring Better at Life to Your Organization
If these ideas resonate, this is also the work I bring into organizations and leadership teams.
I partner with organizations that want clearer thinking, stronger decision-making, and more sustainable performance.
Engagements typically include:
- Keynote speaking for conferences and leadership events
- Leadership development workshops for teams and managers
- Team strategy sessions focused on alignment and execution
For senior leaders seeking deeper application, I also maintain a small executive coaching practice.
