Have you ever said ‘I am not in the mood as the reason for not doing something?’ I think we all have.
As the car rolled out of the driveway, my audiobook started to play. But I impulsively paused it as quick as I could. I was not in the mood to listen to anything. Catching the feeling, I realized what I had just done and I decided to interrogate it further.
Why am I not in the mood to listen to the audio book? I had chosen the book with great care & had in fact enjoyed it so much that on the last drive I sat in the car for over 30 minutes after I arrived to finish the section I was listening to.
As part of my strategy to utilize my time resources as well as is possible, I always have an audiobook, on different subjects, play when I drive. Sometimes, I pause it when I have something I am thinking about or when I have someone in the car & I have to converse with the person. This morning though, I was ruminating on nothing in particular & I was alone in the car so why the move to pause the book? Am I now giving in to a bad habit I asked myself?
Then the answer just popped up ‘I am not in the mood!’.
To say ‘I am not in the mood’ & proceeding to not do what was planned or appropriate is a major cause of failure in life. The phrase is dangerous; it is an achievement killer & an ally of failure.
Many times we make plans to do something believing that it would help us reach some goals that improve our lives and relationships and those of others. But at times, we do not follow through in doing what we have planned. When the time comes to do them you often find yourself drained of all energy to do them. It may be some self-development effort like reading, going on service, exercising, visiting with friends, spending time with family, or enjoying some intimate moment with one’s spouse. But when the time comes we lose the motivation to go on. There may not be any clear reason not to do the planned thing other than that we just don’t feel like it. Laziness & lack of motivation kicks in & immobilizes us & we resort to the dream killer phrase ‘I am not in the mood’.
The antidote is to go ahead & do what you have planned to do except there is a real reason not to.
So I simply put the audiobook back on and you know what happened after a while I started enjoying it and you know what, when I got to my destination, I sat back in the car & listened some more. Another lesson pops up here, ‘our motions control our emotions’ we can also allow our ’emotions to control our motion (actions)’. Which will it be for you in this fight to rein in our emotions? When you begin to do things, even if you may not feel like it initially, you will begin to like it as you go on! Don’t let that initial negative feeling prevent you from doing the good things you have planned to do to improve your life!
Other ways to deal with the mood disease are:
- To get more information about what you plan to do
- Determine the reasons, ‘the why’, you have to do it
- Clearly define and write down, if possible, exactly what and what you need to
- Be sure you learn how it is done
- Determine an appropriate time when you will do it and make sure you allocate sufficient time
- Find an emotional reason to do it
- Put structures in place to help you do it. E.g You should buy the books, keep them in an accessible place, and generally create an enabling environment
- Get the support of people around you and allow them to hold you accountable for the things you have pledged to do
- Above all, just do it. Start Now!
Take note that the mood disease should not be confused with the natural gut instinct you sometimes have about something that is not right for you although you may not be able to explain it. One major difference is that the reasons behind the gut feelings will appear after a while. But this mood thing, no good reasons at all exist. It is all borderline laziness, inability to communicate properly, stupidity, and anger as causes.
As you work assiduously to eliminate the ‘I am not in the mood’ disease from your life, as you do what you say you will do, as you take steps to improve your life, you will see things work out better for you. You will easily accomplish great things and reach for greater heights.
Enjoy the freedom.
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