This Simple Phrase Can Transform Your Health & Performance: Mood Follows Action!
We often think that we need to be motivated BEFORE we do anything.
WRONG!
It works the other way.
We get to feel good BECAUSE we do it.
People will say, “I was doing well with going to the gym, but then I lost motivation.” They see losing motivation as a reason to stop.
As neuroscientist Andrew Huberman explains, this is the wrong way to look at it,
“Our feeling, thoughts, memories etc. are very complicated. But our behaviours are very concrete. They are the control panel for the rest of it.“
What this means is that the way we think and feel changes all the time and we can't control that. Relying on our feelings to gauge what we should and shouldn’t do is a recipe for disaster. They are too unpredictable.
One day you’ll feel like going for a run. The next you won’t. Which means you're either taking action and benefitting your health and performance, or not.
However, what’s far more predictable is that you’ll feel better AFTER you’ve gone for the run. We need to rely on the behaviour itself – ie. just go for the run regardless of how we feel – and that's how we gain some control over how we feel.
Think of it
like this, ‘mood follows action’ and remind yourself of this phrase every single day.
On the day you feel sluggish, your mood is low, you have no motivation – do it anyway. Go for a walk, drag yourself to the gym, lace up your running trainers and get out the door. Focus on the action you can take that will improve how you feel.
Bypassing motivation and relying on action is incredibly powerful, and could
be the key to you finally getting the results you haven't before.
The way we do this is by building discipline. Discipline doesn’t need motivation. It doesn't matter if you feel like doing it or not. You're able to show up and do it anyway because it’s what you do every day. It’s become a habit and part of your routine.
When you can show up and do what you need to, once the initial motivation has gone, that’s when you’re really getting somewhere.
Brad Stulberg puts it really well, "It's impossible to control your thoughts,
let alone your feelings. But what you can control is your actions. If you're in a rut—be it a loss of motivation or something rougher—don't think, just do."
Make 'mood follows action' your mantra and see what a difference it can make in your life over the next few weeks.
When you don't feel like going to the gym... When you don't want to eat those vegetables... When you don't want to get out of bed to exercise...
Say out loud, MOOD FOLLOWS ACTION!
Don't think, just do it. And watch how much better you feel as a result.
