I Act in Spite of My Mood- Pillar #3
We are on Pillar 3 of the 12 Prosperity Pillars and I’m really excited to be able to go through this one. I just love this one because I know how many of us struggle with it.
Last time we talked about taking personal responsibility. Now principle number 3 is the difference maker: I act in spite of my mood. I know we all struggle with this and we’re going to cover a strategy and some ideas on how to use this Pillar daily.
Bruce Lee said, “The successful Warrior is the average man with laser like focus.”
I can’t think of someone who may be more disciplined than Bruce Lee. But that is a powerful statement: a successful warrior is the average man with laser like focus. So, let’s tie this into this principle of how to act in spite of your mood.
Are You Acting in Spite of Your Mood?
I want you to ask yourself if you are willing to act in spite of your mood. Are you willing to do things whether you feel like it or not?
All of us get up in the morning and we’re tired. You know you might be getting up and saying to yourself:
- I have rough job
- I don’t like my situation
- I’m in bad circumstances
- I am tired. I work hard and I don’t have the energy
Guess what? All of us struggle. Everyone struggles! But here’s the thing …
You say you want to create a great life. You say you want to make a difference. But are your actions telling the story the validates what you say you want? Because that’s the key. That’s the difference.
If your actions don’t reflect what you want then it’s doubtful you really want it…bad enough.
Life is tough, and we don’t always feel like doing the things we need to do. We don’t always feel like we can. I get it. I feel the same way many days when I get up in the morning. But, NOT taking action will destroy your ability to make progress in your life and results.
Failure, pain and struggle are a lot worse if you don’t take basic control of your actions and act in spite of your mood. Having growth happen for you is a key to living a great life.
One of the things I have recognized over time that many people do (including myself) is we focus too much on our own problems and situations. The key is to Stop making it about you. Stop making it about your feelings. Find purpose and passion outside of yourself and it can help you to move forward when you are feeling worn down. Maybe it’s a relationship. Maybe it’s a cause or passion that you have. Regardless, it is important to find things outside of yourself to focus on when you are feeling stuck or unmotivated.
You have stop making it about you and your feelings and you’ll see some things move forward in your life!
How To Start Taking More Action
So here are a couple specific strategies I use in order to act in spite of my mood.
1-Setting Goals
When you have clear direction and you have focus in your life, it’s much easier to act in spite your mood. When you’ve been able to take time and develop a clear vision of where you’re going, it’s a lot easier to take action when times are difficult.
2-Making a Commitment
Second, I want you to make the commitment, not just the decision, the commitment that you’re going to act in spite of your mood. You make the decision and the commitment that if you’re going to get up early and go to the gym, you’re going to get up. You make the decision and the commitment! If you set your alarm, you’re going to get up when your alarm goes off.
You’re will see all kinds of things change in your life if you do this and there will be a lot of benefits.
3-The 5 Second Rule
Have you heard of the 5 second rule?
When situations happen in your life, there’s a about a 5 second period of time until doubt and indecision comes into your mind. You’ve got to act before those 5 seconds are up. If you act, then you’ll move forward. If you don’t, if you hesitate … that’s when you’re going to see lack of follow through with your goals. You will not be accomplishing the things you want if you hesitate.
4- Power Statements
Create for yourself a power statement. It could be something like:
- I act in spite of my mood
- I want to be successful
- I take action and do not hesitate
Create power statements so that when you get to that moment of the 5 second window, you start to decide to act in spite of your mood. Or motivate yourself to do it another way.
To be able to act in spite of your mood, you need create a change in you and your state of being. Whether it’s your physical state, your mental state, your emotional state.
Ways to Create Change in Your State
You can use many different tools that can help to change your state toward more action. Maybe you have certain music, books, awesome pictures, or the daily mastermind mobile app that helps you get in a state for action.
I use certain songs that I’ll play on my ipod or my phone that motivate me to go to the gym. Or I’ll have certain pictures and memories that are vivid specific things to help me. Everyone’s different.
So, I encourage you to find something that works for you that can help you to change your state…our state of mind, your state of physical/mental/emotional well-being. Then when you need it, have those ready. Be prepared.
Create Supportive Habits
The last thing I’m going to suggest is to work on creating more habits in your life. When discipline and motivation go out the door, habits are there to guide you. Creating daily rituals will guide you into creating habits that support you. Why are rituals and habits important?
It’s so you don’t question every time whether or not you’re going to go to the gym. You don’t question every night if you’re going to read, meditate, or write in your journal. Once you create habits, then you won’t have to struggle so much with acting in spite of your mood.
Be the person that backs up your talk with
I believe, and I’ll say it again, acting in spite of your mood is a difference maker. You’ve got to back up your talk with your actions. And you have to be able to do this on a consistent basis. So whether it’s setting goals, making commitments, power statements, or other tools that will change your state and create habits … use them to create long term discipline.
All of these things are critical for you to be successful and to enjoy prosperity in your life! So right now, I want you to write down this principle, this is your decision to start.
- Write down the phrase, “I act in spite of my mood.”
- Now hang that up right where you can see it on the mirror in the morning, or on the dashboard of your car. Maybe it’s on your laptop. Maybe put it in multiple places.
- And repeat that over and over and over to yourself.
This will be a very empowering thing for you to do. Follow this principle, and I promise it will spark your true potential.
I believe it’s never too late for you to begin living the life you want to remember
