Being free from the impediment of mood

My coworker once told me that he was doing the feel workout.

You only work out when you feel like it.

It makes for a great joke, but it’s not especially dependable. Because whether you’re pumping iron, writing a novel or cleaning the house, waiting for the right mood is a huge time waster.

Those who rely on their moods rarely get things done. The goal is learning to do things before we’re ready. Training ourselves to access good feelings like motivation and inspiration, whether we feel like it or not.

Because if we’re ready, it’s already too late.

Are you free from the impediment of mood? Can you move your muscles whether you feel ready or not?

This is the most underrated skill of flourishing individuals. After all, we live in an endless army of amusements that can distract us from what matters most. And if we consistently allow the excuse of mood to beat us, then we are going to lose our motivational energy.

It’s one of the reasons playing football was so transformative in my teenage years. It teaches you to run, whether you feel like it or not. Because, as our coach used to say, that three hundred pound linebacker doesn’t care about your mood.

But what you learn is, every time you take action, you strengthen the motivating force behind that action. Momentum builds. And before you know it, you’ve forgotten all about the fact that you don’t feel like doing the thing you’re currently doing.

Thoreau once wrote: 

The mind is subject to moods, as the shadows of clouds pass over the earth. Pay not too much heed to them. Let not the traveler stop for them. They consist of the fairest weather.

When it comes to our motivation, feelings are not good or bad or right or wrong, it’s what we do with them that matters.

In the case of mood, sometimes the best thing to do with our feelings is set them aside and go to work.

When was the last time you did something before you were ready?