The Simple Magic of the Mind
One of the authors from the 1950s who had a big impact on my life was Neville Goddard. He wrote a book titled, Feeling is the Secret that described how we, as humans, seek a feeling in our lives more than a reality. Think about someone you know who has succeeded by most standards but still “feels” like they are failing. Then, think of a person who hasn’t made it in life yet by most standards but still “feels” happy and blessed. After reading the book, I came to several conclusions.
- We do the things we do in this life to achieve a specific “feeling” state.
- Learning to shift your emotions puts you in a place where you have the drive to chase the life you want.
- Achieving feelings has to be formulaic.
After reading, and then practicing “the shift,” I have found that two sets of exercises are critical in generating the experience of life one desires. The first exercise is a morning and night routine. When you first wake in the morning, spend a few minutes visualizing the day you wish to have. Just play the day out in your mind and determine the good things you will do and the good things you will experience. I personally like to visualize others helping me succeed. Then at night, ask yourself one question… “What would it feel like if everything was going my way?” The reason it needs to be a question is because we have enough negative conditioning in our lives that simply repeating that “everything is great” will lead to the mind arguing with itself. The questioning strategy overcomes the argument.
The second exercise is that of physical representation. A recent study discussed in the Association of Psychological Science showed that an expansive pose, or power pose, brought greater levels of confidence to the person. (Artice Here) I have done my own studies on the positive effects of intentional smiling while holding your shoulders back and your face in an open expression. In business, I have seen reductions in turnover, increases in employee performance, and significant increases in profitability just by having everyone stand and smile while looking at each other for 2 minutes at the start of every shift. What is interesting is that positive emotions flow to a person when they choose the habit of a positive and happy stance. After all, we are our own greatest pharmacists. Our brains can create the right combination of drugs to help us find the joy we seek.
I would challenge you to try one or both of these exercises every day for 7 days in a row. If what we are seeking is the right feeling state, then why not take control of our lives and create it for ourselves?!
You’ve got this!
Jody N Holland, M.S. Psychology
