i wrote this in /dx/ around august 2013
in this thread i'll summarize my findings
i'm human. i can't deny that i'm human. therefore i must behave like a human, otherwise i won't behave at all.
humans have feelings. those are a powerful force that must be tamed for our own good - they can't be removed, or replaced by thoughts. thoughts aren't the same as feelings.
thoughts can't replace feelings, but they can induce them. negative thoughts generate negative feelings.
mood, motivation, willpower - all that stuff should be considered 'out of reach' of conscious thoughts.
you can think you want to stop being depressed but that isn't fixing the actual issue. you can think you want to do something but you might not be feeling like doing it.
there's no magical solution for anything. there's no magic pill. there's no magic trick to tame the beast.
everyone should find the reason for the problems individually, but that reason is often not a rational reason, so just getting a hint at what it's about can be enough to come up with a workaround or even a solution.
motivation and willpower are muscles. you train them, you get better at using them. you don't use them for months, they get atrophied.