June 30 UnReluctant Day – the day we cast off our unsupportive tendencies to needlessly delay, defer, postpone or procrastinate – is, thankfully, quickly approaching.
Building up to it, we are looking into and deconstructing many of the things that contribute to reluctance in general.
Moods are certainly culpable.
Many people talk about moods as though they simply happen to us.
“I’m in a bad mood today.”
“I woke up feeling off.”
“I don’t know why, but I’m just not feeling it.”
While moods can sometimes seem mysterious, they are rarely random. More often, they are the result of multiple influences interacting at the same time.
Understanding those influences gives us more ability to influence our moods rather than merely endure them.
Before going further, it helps to distinguish a mood from some related concepts.
A mindset is a broader way of viewing the world. A growth mindset, for example, influences how someone approaches challenges over months or years.
An attitude is a tendency toward a person, situation, or idea. You might have a positive attitude toward work or a negative attitude toward bureaucracy.
An outlook is your general expectation about the future. Some people have an optimistic outlook, while others have a pessimistic one.
A mood, by contrast, is more immediate and temporary. It is the emotional atmosphere through which you are experiencing the present moment.
Moods may last minutes, hours, or days, but they are generally more fluid than mindsets, attitudes, or outlooks.
So what creates a mood?
One important factor is physiology. Sleep quality, hydration, nutrition, illness, hormones, blood sugar levels, pain, and overall health can all influence how we feel.
Anyone who has experienced a poor night’s sleep knows how dramatically physiology can affect mood.
Another influence is movement and physical activity. Exercise changes brain chemistry, increases circulation, releases endorphins, and often improves mood. Even a short walk can create noticeable changes in emotional state.
Our focus of attention also matters. The mind tends to move toward whatever it repeatedly examines.
Spending an hour dwelling on problems, grievances, or fears can create a very different mood than spending an hour focused on gratitude, solutions, opportunities, or meaningful goals.
The people around us influence mood as well. Human emotions are surprisingly contagious.
Enthusiasm, cynicism, optimism, anxiety, encouragement, and hostility often spread from person to person.
This is one reason why choosing your environment carefully can have such a powerful impact on your emotional experience.
Thought patterns and interpretations play a major role. Two people can encounter the same event and experience completely different moods because they assign different meanings to what happened.
A setback can be viewed as a catastrophe, a challenge, or simply a temporary inconvenience.
Then there are external stimulants and substances.
Caffeine, alcohol, recreational drugs, medications, sugar, and other substances can significantly alter mood. Some create temporary elevation followed by a crash. Others may numb, intensify, or distort emotional states.
While these influences are real, they often come with tradeoffs that deserve careful consideration.
Finally, there is the often-overlooked influence of purpose and progress. Many people experience better moods when they feel they are moving toward something meaningful. Momentum creates energy. Stagnation often diminishes it.
The key lesson is that moods are rarely the product of a single cause. They are usually the result of a complex interaction among physiology, focus, movement, environment, thoughts, substances, and life circumstances.
The encouraging news is that while we may not control every influence, we can often influence many of them. We don’t have to stay in an undesirable mood; we have choices.
We can move our bodies. We can direct our focus. We can improve our sleep. We can choose our environments. We can challenge unhelpful interpretations.
A mood may arrive uninvited, but it does not always have to stay. The more we understand its components, the more skillfully we can shape the emotional climate of our lives.
Aspire.
Come Upwards with Us™
