As humans, we have emotions; we feel and act based on our feelings. We are structured this way from birth, so it is norm to live life and do things you want to do based on how you feel about them and how motivated and inspired you feel like doing them.
Talking about attaining life long success in your career, relationship and life in general—Does feeling still matter? Come to look at it, our emotions can lead us into not being committed, into changing from one course to another because feelings change, emotions change, but commitment doesn't.
The role Commitment has to Play
And one thing I have noticed about success is that it is attained by being committed to something regardless of what that thing is. If you are not committed to doing things time after time regardless of how you feel, how inspired you may be, or your emotions, then success may come very difficult to attain.
This is where we realise that our feelings are fleeting; they do not matter and should not be an important reason on why we should take action or not take action into doing something or not. Although our feelings are important; they lead us, guide us, and save us from the unknown, they are not enough to get you to where you want to be. You have to use your head also.
Feelings are overrated!!!
Though feelings are important, I say that feelings are overrated as they are not reliable to keeping to our commitments and decisions. They change on a constant beat; one moment we feel like doing this, we feel like pursuing this goal, and the second moment, realisation tunes it, and we feel like finding something else to be enthusiastic about, and then we repeat.
Take having good body shape as an example. A common goal among people. This goal can be achieved by consistently exercising and watching what you eat. They feel like wanting to be the person with a good body shape and the move towards the goal. At the end of the day, realisation sets it, the difficulty in attaining that goal is noticed, and the feeling towards the goal changes.
That's just a simple example, which is very applicable to other areas of our lives like relationships, careers, skill development, and many others. We feel like doing it in the first place and next thing we don't. We should know that we would not always feel the same way for something, either a goal, a skill, or a person, but we can remain committed to it.
Discipline: Committed over Feeling Everyday
And what does commitment mean—doing it regardless of your feelings, regardless of how inspired you feel. Don't wait till you are motivated or inspired. Just do it! Do it broke, do it weak, do it tired. In times when you are weak or sick, just do it. It doesn't matter the intensity of the work put in. What truly matters is the consistency.
When you can fight the lack of motivation and do it regardless, then it is called discipline. Discipline is when you put in the effort regardless of your feelings. You are not controlled by your emotions to take actions. You don't wait to feel like doing so; you just do it anyway because you are committed to doing it.
Disciplined people are more successful in all areas of their lives because they don't rely on their feelings; they push through the tough times and tough moments when motivation is absent. They remain consistent in putting in the work and disciplined effort and tracking their progress overtime to measure their improvement and growth.
Take Note:
They can lead you astray and are unreliable. Discipline should only be your true driving force for success.