One common piece of wisdom is that for a planet to support life, it must have active plate tectonics. Mars is a good example: It's cooled down and is stagnant, and no longer has a lot of life, if any.
Earth, of course, has active plate tectonics...just ask a Californian or an Icelander.
But it turns out that Earth did not have active plate tectonics when life started. Instead, it was in a stagnant lid phase, with no movement of plates and heat being produced through cracks in the surface. Venus is in this state and doesn't appear to have life.
Of course, it's possible plate tectonics, which result in changes of environment over time, are a key factor in the development of complex life and the ability of organisms to evolve and adapt.
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