MOOD FOLLOWS ACTION
I woke up on a beautiful Sunday morning feeling sore all over my body. I live in an area called Nungambakkam, in downtown Chennai. Downtown Chennai is as picturesque as it gets in the Indian city. With its narrow alleys and lanes, the area has always been a hive of activity. And, with the onset of the new day, the activity only intensifies. Coffee shops sprout their heads here and there and a steady stream of office workers pour into their respective destinations. The streets are filled with honking auto-rickshaws, heavy-duty trucks and cabs. The din is so deafening that not even the birds seem to notice. Whether you’re an early riser, the city comes alive at around 6:30am. If you live anywhere near the city centre, you know what that means: you’ll have to get out of bed if you want to avoid missing any of the action.
It doesn’t get much better than waking up to the smells of freshly brewed coffee and the sight of your favorite cat stretching on the windowsill. There’s nothing quite like the smell of a new morning in Chennai city. Not the stale, impersonal fragrance of a metropolis, nor the fractured notes of a suburb, but an altogether different one, a city that still breathes, an unfussy one that will offer you just enough freshness and color to lift your spirits and make you feel as if the day is yours to begin. You ask yourself what’s so special about this moment and you realize that you’re in a city that feels like home. You’ve made friends, found your passion, and you’ve found your forever home, too.
Having the southernmost latitude in the country, Chennai enjoys a climate that is both temperate and warm. This makes it one of the best cities in India to live in if you’re looking for a balance between a warm, languid summer and a refreshingly chilly winter. In addition, it is also one of the most densely populated cities in the country, with a population of almost 8 million people. This makes it one of the most complete and bustling cities in South India. Settling down in Chennai can be a tough decision for many people, but once you get used to the hustle and bustle of the city, it can feel like a home away from home. The city is home to a diverse and lively community, with people from all walks of life living, working and playing together. It’s not every day that you feel lucky in such a beautiful city, so savor this one. Even if you aren’t a romantic, the sight of a new day is enough to make you appreciate it. So, it was with me on that morning. I had been looking forward to this day for a long time. And, yes, it was going to be a beautiful one. Or so I thought. As I headed off to IIT campus.
Every Sunday, my teammates and I do a long run at the IIT campus. The previous evening in my eagerness to outdo my friend who had accompanied me to the gym, I had exerted myself like crazy, and the delayed onset muscle soreness which had set in was so brutal and painful that I knew there was no way I could undertake the long run a 
few minutes away. But, being a leader of my team, the notion of letting them down felt downright terrible, so I showed up despite the gloomy mood. After showing up, I accompanied the boys for a short distance before resting and waiting for the team to finish. But, once I got going, I didn’t feel like stopping and did the entire length of 40 km, which left me feeling great, as though I was on top of the world. The cascading endorphin surge within me left me beaming with joy and a sense of achievement in the end.
It was then that the realisation dawned upon me that one doesn’t have to feel great to act. Just showing up is enough to see one through. You don’t have to feel good to act. The behaviour or action we take on the spur of the moment makes us change our mindset and gets us out of the stuck rut, and builds the required momentum. Taking action despite feeling gloomy is what creates motivation automatically.
My laptop bag was messy and cluttered. I wanted to organise it for a long time, and I kept putting it off to do it on a better day when I had more time on my hands. And that better time never seemed to arrive. That time kept stretching. I didn’t realise the strange perturbation and feeling of unhappiness emanating from it. Whenever I encountered my laptop bag, I detested myself for procrastinating and not ferreting out time to organise my stuff. I reached a point where it got unendurable, and I recalled the Nike slogan, “Just do it!” I arranged my bag instantly and experienced a joy unknown.
Clutter wreaks havoc on our mental health. Decluttering might not solve all our problems, but it brings us close to peace and happiness. It’s crazy we associate how much of our unhappiness with our habits and lifestyle. We rarely realise how our outer world reflects our inner world. Decluttering our physical surroundings is a good place to start, but you need to declutter every aspect of your life to see actual change. Once we have cleaned our wardrobes and tables, emptied the junk, and donated our old clothes, our moods will climb from dullness and gloom to lightness and joy. The same holds good for our minds; when we declutter our minds of all unwanted thoughts and beliefs, that’s when the dark clouds hovering over and inside your mind get cleared away and give way for pure light to filter into your consciousness and fill you with the genuine joy of life.
Harvard psychology professor Dan Gilbert has, through research, established that mood follows action. It means we often feel worse before feeling good, and to feel better, we need to do something that leads to better feelings. It can be anything from eating a piece of chocolate or watching your favourite movie. Mood follows action is a crucial concept in human behaviour. No matter what mood you are in, if you don’t act on it, you will stay stuck.
The same goes for mood in response to stimuli. If you show up at a particular time daily with your companion, your brain will associate that time with joy and start developing a favourable response to that time slot. There are various studies which prove this point, with fascinating results. For example, one research found that people who worked out for 15 minutes before work were in better moods and more productive than those who didn’t exercise in the first 15 minutes of their day.
As mood follows action, if you want to be confident, act like a confident person. If you’re going to be motivated, then show up and do things that encourage you. For example, writing is one of the most common ways to make money online. When people write, they also practice their written skills and improve their grammar and vocabulary. They’re having fun while building up a portfolio of work for when they apply for jobs or write books down the road.
It’s not just about making money from a passion; it’s about doing something that is motivating and establishing good habits. Once we show up and get done, our mood improves because we have accomplished something.
I frequently don’t feel motivated enough to go to the gym. Even when I don’t feel like it, I get the work done if I show up and act like I love working out. It’s hard to get motivated to go to the gym, but once you’re there, you feel better. I can say the same for writing when it feels like all your energy has drained. Showing up and writing for a few minutes makes me feel better and more energised. Many people have trouble showing up and getting things done, whether going to the gym or writing, despite not feeling like it. But what they don’t realise is that when they show up, they get their work done. Feelings of accomplishment and pride replace the feelings of guilt and shame. We all know that showing up is one of the essential things in life. Not just for physical health, but also mental health.
We all have days when we don’t feel like doing anything. But, if you want to get the work done, you need to show up. The first step is to find out what your motivation is. Why are you not feeling like it? Is there anything you can change to make you feel more motivated? Once you figure it out, take a deep breath to make you feel better about yourself. When I feel unmotivated to work, I always remind myself that showing up is essential. Going to the gym can be a great way to get back on track. I know that when I don’t feel like writing; I need a break from my computer screen. Taking a walk outside or getting some fresh air can help me clear my head and come back with renewed energy.
For instance, sometimes, the feeling of not wanting to do something can be intense. It can feel like the world’s weight is on your shoulders, forcing you to stay stuck like the despair of getting stuck in quicksand. But what if I told you it’s possible to take action despite feeling jammed sometimes like the brakes in your car? You might ask, “How is that possible?” Well, it all boils down to how we think about things. When I sat down to write a few weeks back, I experienced one of the overwhelming writer’s block. I could not put even a word on the paper, although I realised I had been staring at a blank page for over 20 minutes. It’s not always easy to take action when we don’t feel like it. Sometimes, we may have to pause and infer why we may feel stuck. Could it be because of a lack of sleep? Or worry about some upcoming event, or could it be because of the overwhelm of the current workload?
I took a break. I walked over to the kitchen and made myself a hot cup of coffee. And gazed at the potted plants on my balcony, admiring the green leaves and the lovely blossoms shimmering and playing in the sunlight. Slowly, I noticed my mind drift away from the book as my senses took in the crisp taste of the energising brew and the incredible herbage of the freshly watered potted plants. I realised that taking this small break was perhaps the best thing I did. When I got back to write, I found the words flowing like the stream of a gushing river filling up page after page as though some strange presence was doing the writing through me.
We all have those days when we don’t feel like doing anything. It’s easy to get caught up in the “I don’t want to” cycle and let that feeling defeat us. But there are ways to break out of it
Here are some tips on how you can take action despite not feeling like it:
-Do something that you enjoy, which could be a hobby, a book, or an activity such as painting or cooking.
-Find something important to you and do it.
Think about your end goal and take one step towards it.
-Take care of yourself by eating healthy food, getting enough sleep, and drinking water.
In her TED Talk, writer Brené Brown discusses how the practice of showing up is the key to success. She believes we can be a part of something bigger than ourselves when we show up and do the work. We can find meaning in our work and our lives. Brown’s words are especially relevant to writers who often feel like they are spinning their wheels. She says, “If you’re not showing up, you’re not doing the work. And if you’re not doing the work, then all the rest of this stuff doesn’t matter.”
Dr.K.Jayanth Murali is an IPS Officer belonging to 1991 batch. He is borne on Tamil Nadu cadre. He lives with his family in Chennai, India. He is currently serving the Government of Tamil Nadu as Director General of Police, Idol Wing CID.