Let your behaviors guide you

How often do we sit around waiting to engage in our desired behaviors until we “feel better”? How many times have we said we will start going to the gym after we lose a few lbs? How many times have we waited to start that project until we are inspired?

Our emotions are powerful, in many cases far more powerful than the logic we claim guides our decision making. Most of us base choices on emotion, it is how we are wired. Yet we can use that emotional drive to our advantage; we can manipulate our feelings.

If we wait for our mood to change on its own we are placing our emotional health in the hands of external influence; we have given up control. So how can we make changes in something that seems so permanent? Action.

Is going for a run going to cure depression? Absolutely not. But it will produce a hormonal cascade that can elevate mood and provide a temporary respite. Within that heightened emotional state we will be more likely to engage in other healthy behaviors and a chain reaction can take hold. We create a positive feedback loop in which each action enhances a desired emotion which drives more positive feelings.

Behaviors are the engine that drive this meat vehicle we inhabit but emotions are the fuel. One won’t work without the other but sometimes we might need to just give it a little push to get moving. Get the engine started and let your emotions throw fuel into the lines. Happy, sad, glad or mad take action. It might suck at first but engaging in desired behaviors will always result in a positive effect on feelings.