How to Feel Good, Day 1

Walking through the dog park with Roxy it came to me to write a series called "How to Feel Good."

 

I want to feel good.  I want to feel gooder.  And I feel good when I help someone else feel good, so let's go...

 

What is "good?"  

 

For now let's call feeling good feeling the way you want to feel, or how you think you ought to feel.

 

A core premise of mental performance is that we can take some control of our "brain's reigns" and change our life experience by making deliberate choices.

 

As William James wrote 100+ years ago, "The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude."

 

Humans are designed such that being reactive to our environment is our default.  We are typically victims of our circumstances: something happens and it "makes" us feel a certain way.

 

But there are things we can do, choices we can make, that can improve how we feel and enable us to rise above our circumstances.

 

This series will be a parade of the best ideas I've found for feeling good.  As we practice them, there's a compound effect: 

 

 

"Smile lots!" my mom used to say -- today we'd call it her meme.

 

And she was right.  

 

Research supports that, while not massive, there is a statistically significant benefit to smiling:

 

1) Your emotional state improves (you feel better)

2) You are seen as more attractive and approachable by others.    

3) You may perform better (you're freer, looser)

 

Are any of those of interest to you?

 

I'm smiling as I write this and it's coming out fast and pretty good (this isn't AI, this is TH).

 

See if you can get someone to smile back at you.

 

Do a dry run for yourself and see how it feels.

 

I know, I'm often too cool to do things I'm reading about, too.  But do it anyway.  Maybe add a little chuckle.

 

Deliberately choosing to feel better by smiling is Playing Big.

 

Let's go,

Dr. Tom