๐ฏ The Friction Sweep
Read time: 3.5 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.
I was talking with someone recently who had done the hard part.
They knew their three wins for the week.
They had good intentions.
A clear plan.
A calendar that looked reasonable on Sunday night.
But by Thursday, two of those wins were drifting.
Not because they were lazy.
Not because the goals were wrong.
Because little things kept getting in the way.
A meeting got dropped into the middle of a work block.
A task needed one more approval.
A document was buried in the wrong folder.
A simple email turned into a 40-minute detour.
This is the part people often miss.
Most weeks do not fall apart because of a lack of ambition.
They fall apart because of friction.
That is why this issue naturally follows the 3-Win series.
If the 3-Win Week helps you decide what matters, the Friction Sweep helps you protect it.
A Friction Sweep is a short check-in where you ask:
What is making this harder than it needs to be?
Not in theory.
In real life.
Noticing friction changes the game because it shifts your attention from effort to design.
Sometimes the problem is not discipline.
It is that the path has too many unnecessary steps.
Write this down:
The work is rarely the problem. The drag around the work usually is.
This Weekโs Action
Take one of your current wins and do a quick Friction Sweep.
Ask:
- What keeps delaying the start?
- What keeps interrupting progress?
- What tiny annoyance turns this into a bigger task?
- What could I remove, automate, decide, or simplify?
Look for small points of resistance.
A missing template.
An unclear next step.
Too many tabs open.
A task that depends on someone else but has not been followed up.
The goal is not to rebuild your whole system.
Just reduce the drag.
Why This Works
Friction drains energy before the real work even begins.
When something feels harder to start, harder to continue, or harder to finish, your brain begins to avoid it.
Not because the task is impossible.
Because it feels expensive.
A Friction Sweep lowers the activation energy.
It makes progress feel lighter.
And when progress feels lighter, consistency becomes more likely.
Try This
At the end of your workday, pick one task that felt more difficult than it should have.
Then finish this sentence:
This would be easier if ________.
Keep your answer practical.
This would be easier if the file was pinned.
This would be easier if I blocked 30 minutes before meetings started.
This would be easier if I sent the request today instead of waiting.
Then make one small change.
That is the sweep.
Weekly Reflection
Before you move on from this email, pause for a moment.
Ask yourself:
What moved forward this week?
What created unnecessary drag?
What would make next week easier?
Write it down.
Then clear the path.
If this idea feels useful, feel free to pass it along to someone who might need it this week.
You do not need more pressure.
You need less resistance.
See you next week โ 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.
