Of course we love it when progress feels effortless. We love the idea that we can make a ton of headway toward our goals without expending much energy to get there. It feels good, but it can become a pitfall when coasting becomes a habit.

I have a buddy who raced bicycles growing up and always shouted (mostly to himself, but sometimes at other cyclists), “PEDDLE!” when he caught himself or them coasting downhill. He’d tell me that professionals don’t let up—they keep peddling, even down hills.

When things start to feel easier (or when we think we’ve got it in the bag) we often let up and coast precisely when we should be cranking up our level of effort.

I’d argue that it actually takes more energy to do nothing than it does to actually work. Here’s why:

When you give your entire self to your task, you’re developing and learning, the work is engaging and restorative. The work recirculates back to you and feeds you through a sense of accomplishment or growth.

When you coast, the energy isn’t coming back to you. It goes outward and is lost.

In every task, goal, or project that we take on, in every activity we do, we choose whether we want to develop or depreciate, to be engaged or disengaged, active or passive, to affirm or negate our lives.

Take a hard look at your inputs and asking yourself, are you putting everything into what you want to do? Are you expecting more out life than you’re putting in?

You get back what you put into your life. The moment you tell yourself you can stop is when you stop developing and growing as a person.

If you want to get somewhere, want to achieve a goal, don’t expect to get there by coasting. If you want to get there, you better start peddling!