You can't think your way out of a feeling problem
by Jack Keyworth
Modern day writer, marketer & entrepreneur, George Mack, has a fantastic concept regarding how our thoughts, feelings & actions interrelate to one another. Many of us will be aware of ‘top-down’ processing & the logical stages of ‘thinking – feeling – acting’. Yet, in order to change how we think or feel, Mack states the following: “How you feel impacts how you think & act, how you act impacts how you think & feel, & how you think impacts how you feel & act” (1).
Following Mack’s analysis, we could conclude that for our mood to change (or more precisely our thoughts & feelings) it may be more advantageous to begin with action. If we can get ourselves into a different state of being by ‘doing’ something, then we can benefit from the downstream effects of changing the way we both think & feel.
Though Mack includes it in his model above, it doesn’t override the following principle: You can’t think your way out of a feeling problem.
How many times have you been in a state of psychological struggle, poor mental health or suffering from a lack of purpose? How many times have you been physically & mentally exhausted, overwhelmed from the struggles of life & unable to fathom the energy to move forward? The chances are you have experienced at least one of the above &, if you haven’t yet, you almost certainly will do across the course of your life.
We focus a lot today on the individual & on the individuals’ mental wellbeing. We believe that thinking about our feelings will help us change the way we are feeling. I’m not saying there isn’t some efficacy here, many people do feel better through therapeutic models such as CBT & talking therapies. Yet, for us to change the state of mind we are in, we would almost certainly receive immediate benefit through the act of doing something physically arduous (2)(3).
I absolutely love an exchange heard between Chris Williamson & Piers Morgan on this exact topic. Whilst on Piers Morgan’s podcast, he is asked the following question: “Mental strength or physical strength?”. To which Williamson responds with “physical strength… mental strength is downstream from it”. He elaborates by stating that “trying to think your way out of overthinking is like trying to sniff your way out of a cocaine addiction & you can’t really change the mind with the mind, you have to change it with the body first. So going for a walk will do way more for your mood than sitting & thinking & vacillating about whatever’s dealing with you. If I had the choice between a good night’s sleep or a hard training session, I would go to the gym because the difference in my mood before & after the gym is way more than before & after a night’s sleep (4).
We are becoming more aware then, anecdotally at least, that the mental is downstream from the physical. When the tough days come, when you are tired, overworked, stressed out & beaten up, doing something physically demanding appears to change our state of mind & our mental energy in a way that simply ruminating on the subject does not do.
Many will combat this approach with the common counter of “I’m too tired to exercise”. Yes, you are tired, as am I. Nevertheless, by getting the blood pumping around your body you cannot help but feel better. There is a deep change in how we feel when we move our bodies & this only becomes greater as we do things that are more & more physically demanding. Though it sounds counter-intuitive, many a sleep deprived, stressed out individual has overcome their cognitive & energetic deficit through a hard workout.
What constitutes a hard workout differs from one individual to another. Person ‘A’ may throw themselves into a METCON (Metabolic Conditioning) or into a rigorous weightlifting session. Person ‘B’ may do press ups & air squats to the point of difficulty or failure. Many things will influence the type & intensity of such a workout, these can include a person’s age, weight, training history, health issues, ailments & so on.
The aim here is to do something that is physically demanding for you. Do the ‘thing’ to the point of resistance or struggle… lean into the adversity.
Struggling to think your way out of a feeling problem?
Lead with action.
What do you think?
References:
1) Modern Wisdom podcast, episode #721, 18th December 2023. George Mack – Why Can No One Think Rationally Anymore?
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2) Effect of exercise for depression: systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. BMJ. 2024 May 28;385:q1024. doi:10.1136/bmj.q1024. Erratum for: BMJ. 2024 Feb 14;384:e075847. Doi: 10.1136/bmj-2023-075847. PMID: 38806193; PMCID: PMC11131084.
3) Netz Y. Is the Comparison between Exercise and Pharmacologic Treatment of Depression in the Clinical Practice Guideline of the American College of Physicians Evidence-Based? Front Pharmacol. 2017 May 15;8:257. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2017.00257. PMID: 28555108; PMCID: PMC5430071.
4) Piers Morgan Uncensored, 23rd February 2024. Chris Williamson on toxic masculinity, sobriety, anxiety and…fapping...
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