Activation Energy
Activation energy is the minimum energy required to initiate a chemical reaction. In daily life, it represents the effort needed to start a task or habit, and reducing it can make desired behaviors easier to adopt.
THE IDEA
Activation Energy
Activation energy is the energy barrier reactants must overcome for a chemical reaction to proceed. Reactants pass through a high-energy transition state as their bonds rearrange to form products. A catalyst provides a reaction pathway with a lower activation barrier.
Activation energy (Ea) can be expressed in joules (J) per reacting entity or in kilojoules per mole (kJ/mol) and kilocalories per mole (kcal/mol). The Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius introduced the term in 1889.
Physical Examples and Everyday Analogies
A spark can supply the energy needed to ignite fuel. Enzymes act as catalysts in biochemical reactions.
For habits, activation energy is a metaphor for the effort needed to begin. Starting with a manageable action can make it easier to get going: running 3 miles, for example, may feel more approachable than running a marathon. The same threshold metaphor can describe an emotional outburst, but it does not mean that emotions accumulate chemical activation energy.
The key to daily practice is to put your desired actions as close to the path of least resistance as humanly possible. Identify the activation energy—the time, the choices, the mental and physical effort they require—and then reduce it. If you can cut the activation energy for those habits that lead to success, even by as little as 20 seconds at a time, it won’t be long before you start reaping their benefits. —Shawn Achor
When to use it
Leaving your gym clothes by the bed to reduce the effort of starting a morning workout
Breaking a large project into a tiny first step (e.g., writing one sentence) to overcome procrastination
Using a catalyst like a mentor or accountability partner to lower the activation energy of learning a new skill
Reducing distractions (e.g., uninstalling social media apps) to decrease the mental energy required to focus
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Spark initiates fire
A spark provides the activation energy needed to ignite a fire, overcoming the initial resistance.
Enzymes as catalysts
Enzymes lower the activation energy required for biochemical reactions, allowing them to proceed at lower temperatures.
Emotional outbursts
An emotional outburst can feel like crossing a threshold: tension builds and a small incident triggers tears or shouting. This is an analogy to an activation barrier, rather than a literal account of chemical energy accumulating in an emotion.
Habit formation
Starting with small habits—like running 3 miles instead of a marathon—reduces activation energy, making it easier to build consistency. Shawn Achor suggests cutting the activation energy for desired habits by even 20 seconds to reap benefits.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
Which tasks or habits in your life have a high activation energy, and what small changes could you make to lower that barrier?
Can you think of a time when an emotion built up until it crossed an activation threshold? What triggered the outburst?
How might you apply the concept of activation energy to encourage a positive change in your daily routine?
References
- On the Reaction Velocity of the Inversion of Cane Sugar by Acids — Svante Arrhenius (1889)
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Wisdom Theory 100 Mental Models (2020) (Wisdom Theory)