How to know when you are feeling bad

Effectiveness Habit #2: Feel Good. Then Act. asks you to act only when you feel good. Sometimes, though, you may feel bad and be unaware that you are feeling bad. Here are four reasons:

  1. You are used to it. If you’ve experienced a steady tension, weariness, or numbness, you can miss the fact that you are feeling bad.
  2. You think, “It’s not that bad.” You may try to justify or play down how badly you might feel.
  3. You think, “This is just the way life is.” You expect life to bring an amount of pain, tiredness, or blahs.
  4. You are feeling good. Of course, if you feel good you can’t also feel bad.

You’d be surprised how often items 1, 2, and 3 are true.

Does it really matter? Yes. You are so much more effective when you feel good because feeling good makes things easier. Being able to tell whether you are feeling better or worse is therefor very useful.

To really know how good or bad you feel, use your body. While your intellect can get wrapped around its own axle when trying to think these things through, your physical sensations will tell you clearly and truly every time.

If you feel tension, exhaustion, numbness, or weight in your arms, legs, belly, back, chest, neck, etc., then you are feeling bad and focusing mostly on thoughts about what you do not want. If you feel light, tingly, warm, or excited anywhere in your body, you are feeling good and focusing mostly on thoughts about what you do want.

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