The pros and the emotionally conned

Do you ever just not feel like doing something? Pretty common isn't it? What kinds of things do you need to feel like doing in order to be able to do them well?

My client today bought a banjo some time ago and I asked him how his development was going and he gave me a look of, "Don't ask" and said that even though he knows he should practice, he doesn't really feel like it. As I see it, this is a problem we are facing more and more as we have bought into the idea that what we do is meant to feel good and if it doesn't we should wait until we have the right feelings and conditions to give it a go.

I see this as nonsense because no matter how much we like to learn, rarely does being a beginner feel good as it is coupled with failure and frustration at the speed of progression as well as other factors. Only being able to act under fair weather conditions (feeling good) severely limits our ability to act and, it means that we are much less willing to approach anything that feels like work because, work by most people's definition is not enjoyable.

Someone once said something along the lines of while amateurs need to feel like it, professionals do it regardless, meaning that a professional is able to employ their skills to a high degree even if they don't feel like it. Imagine a band made up of musicians who can only play a gig when they feel like playing, how many cancelled concerts would there be?

This is what all the practice is for that a professional puts themselves through , consistency of skill. Needing the right feeling to perform well is not controllable skill because to make it so means being able to control the emotions and disconnect feeling from what is required in the moment. If someone is only able to do their job when they feel like it, would you hire them to work in your business?

Of course, recreational activities are a different matter as there is no pressing need to have to get things done but when it comes to tasks that are time sensitive in nature and carry responsibility and cost of inaction, feelings should not come into the equation at all unless they aid fulfillment.

This idea of feel good to perform is a con we have been sold that holds us back from doing a lot of what leads to personal empowerment and independence. Being bound to our immediate emotional state which can flick like a flag in the wind, creates an environment that we ourselves are unable to trust, let alone those who might be looking to put their trust in us.

Of course, all of this is going to be case and person dependent but in my view, our actions are far too influenced by emotional states that are unreliable at best and our reactions are far too unpredictable to put much faith in them at all. This goes into the responses common to internet chatrooms where extreme swings and polarization are typical in discussions as essentially there is no sense of professionalism, it is all thoughtless emotional reaction and limits the effectiveness of having the conversation at all.

Emotional reaction can become an inhibitor of skill development if we put too much credence in what it tells us as whenever something begins to feel uncomfortable, we would want to stop and it is in that discomfort that the learning begins. Enough practice leads to improvement and what that means is the skill to perform is less affected under emotional duress and can maintain high levels even in extreme conditions.

What I find is that there are some skill areas where feeling is an incredibly useful tool if channeled well though and tat is often in creative areas. Heartbreak can turn into a love song, uncerainty into a painting or fear into a poem. However, the channeling of emotion is emotional control. An artist who can't perform their art unless they feel like it is unlikely to ever be able to tap into the creative force emotion can inspire.

The trick I guess to using emotion well is much like being able to take opportunity as it presents. There is an investment aspect required to have the resources available at the right time to utilize when the conditions are favorable. An artist needs to be able to hold their brush with a skilled hand even while the emotional turmoil swirls within to translate it onto the canvas, and that takes a lot of practice in discomfort, a lot of work when not feeling it.

There is no such thing as perfect conditions, there is just the depth of resources available in whatever conditions are present. We have control over where we spend our time and which skills we develop but all skills lose potency if they can only be used when we feel good enough to use them.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]