Tend to your state and good things follow

A few days ago, I was struggling after lunch.

Tense and tired, I tried to pry a few more tasks from my to-do list. If I could just squeeze those out, the day would be a success, and then I could finally rest.

It didn’t work. I managed a little more, but it was low quality. It left me feeling drained and unsatisfied.

Yesterday, the same impulse arose—to push through. Instead, I paused and took the dog for a long walk.

Walking had no direct bearing on what I needed to do that day. But when I got down to work, I was much more effective. I didn’t feel at war with myself and the results flowed easily from the state.

There’s an important distinction: forcing an action vs cultivating a state where action naturally follows. Having a clear goal is no good if you’re continually distracted or exhausted. Those barriers are erected in state.

Two qualities that stood out from that state: presence and clarity. Presence gave me greater contact with what was going on in and around me. It made me more sensitive to the edges of ideas and the nuances of what I was trying to do. Clarity made it easier to keep the light of attention on what mattered most.

State is powerful. We all know that being in a flow state vs feeling depressed are wildly different worlds, within a world.

When we relentlessly pursue outcomes without tending to our state, it’s like playing the right chords on out-of-tune strings. No matter how skilled your fingers, it’s going to sound horrendous.

Trusting state isn’t easy. Forcing an action feels like it’s directly solving the problem. Our world is based on the manipulation of material things around us. Why shouldn’t that apply to my ambitions?

Cultivating state means stepping back, temporarily. Tending to something more nebulous and having the confidence that a well-tended mind will be your best weapon in getting things done.

The payoffs speak for themselves. That’s why so many people swear by something like walking as critical to their work & creative pursuits.

Tend to your state and good things follow.