Most people just want to feel better. How about you?
How we feel comes down, much of the time, to the state that we are in.
Intuitively we all have some sense for what “state” means. A mother may say to a child, “Look at the state of your room!” If a room could have feelings, we imagine it might be sad because it hasn’t been properly cared for.
A coworker may ask, “Have you seen James? He is really in a frantic state since his cat escaped this morning.” It’s easy to imagine how James might feel in this situation.
We use this word “state'' in daily conversation but what does it mean, why should we care and how can we change our state so we feel better?
Mike Mandel defines “state” as the sum total of everything going on in our mind, our internal dialogue, what we tell ourselves, our beliefs, and our physiology.
Keep reading, and we’ll show you the two magical keys you can use, immediately, to change your state and feel better. Anytime … anywhere.
Key #1 is Physiology.
When you change the way you physically move, your state changes automatically. It’s impossible for your state not to change, in fact..
This may sound too good to be true but it is this simple! When you move in an empowering way, with relaxed strength, you will automatically find yourself in a better state.
Emotion follows motion.
See for yourself:
- Sit like you are about to arm wrestle and pause to check in with how that feels in your body. Did you experience a shift in state?
- Sit as tall as humanly possible. Act as if every millimeter of vertebral lengthening would earn you $100. How does that translate into an emotion?
Next time you're just feeling tired and bored, get up, stand tall, jump, breathe, move your body in different directions with speed and vigor and you will shift your physiology immediately, transitioning to an empowered state.
The Physiological Secret of the Far East
If emotion follows motion, physiology follows breathing.
This has been known in the Far East for centuries. Consider:
- Yoga
- Karate
- Qi Gong
- Tai Chi
- Kung Fu
Each of these ancient practices activate a powerful shift in breathing that will cause you to go into an empowered state primed for action.
Congratulations! You now understand that you can use motion and breathing to instantly access your desired state for any task. You may now add your “physiological key” to your key ring.
Key #2 is Your Focus
Another powerful way to change state is to change what you’re focusing on. In its most basic form, it’s the difference between focusing on the positive or the negative of anything. You know: Is the cup half empty, or is it half full?
We have all heard this question but did you realize that you will find an answer that supports your view?
Test this out now:
- Identify how your cup is half empty right now. What’s going wrong in life? What parts of your life are just a total disaster?
- Identify how your cup is half full right now. What’s going right? What opportunities lie ahead that excite you?
Because we will find answers to support the questions we ask, be sure to ask yourself questions that focus your attention on the positive and direct you towards empowered states. When we ask ourselves high-quality questions we tune our brains’ reticular activating system to search for answers to these questions. This natural, powerful, unconscious process works for us like autopilot.
This means that by asking empowering questions, we can powerfully change our own state, or the state of someone else. How will you use this knowledge to make life better for the people you interact with?
Answer this question to earn your second key:
- If emotion follows motion and physiology follows breathing, what does focus follow?
- The questions we pose to ourselves and others.
Congratulations, you may now add your “focus key” to your keyring!
Physiology and Focus Work Together To Help You Feel Better Now
If you change your focus, your physiology will change as a result. Imagine a slumped-over person who is breathing shallowly and appears to be “depressed” (whatever that means). If he suddenly changed his focus so that he felt better, can you imagine how quickly his physiology would also change? He’d sit up (or stand up) taller, breathe differently, and the visual change would be obvious to you!
Similarly, if this “depressed” person simply made a conscious decision to change his physiology by doing something totally silly like … like laughing out loud for no reason at all … his physiology change would cause an immediate change of focus.
Chris Thompson described this as a “cause and effect loop”. Whichever one you decide to consciously change, the other will be affected immediately. Focus will change physiology, and physiology will change focus.
And BOTH will change state.
What’s Next?
State is something that can make a task - ANY task - easy or difficult. If feeling better is what you’re after, then state management is the key! Today you have earned two keys that can create ideal states at will. These are the physiological and focus keys.
Please remember to use these keys anytime you notice you (or anyone around you) feels like crap, chances are pretty good you could use a shift in physiology and or focus!
If you want to up your game and add more keys to your ring, we suggest you take a look at our Personal Growth Membership because it directly addresses how to make every major area of your life better. Sound good? Check it out. You deserve it.