How to access the data that is more valuable than your P&L

Q: What are the emotions you do not want to take action from?

Recently I’ve been examining a decision I have made.

The part I’m examining is the feeling I have when I carry out this decision.

My decision has nothing to do with work.

It’s part of who I am being as a human.

It is a significant aspect of my life on a daily basis.

But I’m not looking at the action I’m taking to pursue this goal.

I’m examining the feeling I have when I take the action.

I care more about the feeling I have than the things I am doing.

This is not really how I’ve been taught to get things done.

I have a lifetime of believing that actions reign supreme.

Actions are how we create success.

Actions are how we get things done.

We’re told to take the action.

But there are many times that the action we are taking isn’t in line with what we actually want to have happen.

I can tell this is happening when I am not feeling the emotion I want to feel when I’m taking that action.

Maybe the feeling is obligation.

Or guilt.

Or pressure.

Or fear.

I don’t want to take action from those emotions.

My client is becoming very skilled at using a process that I call, “Discern + Trust.”

It’s when you pay very close attention to the feeling you are experiencing as you take action.

Then you decide if you want to be taking that action from that feeling.

She’s getting really good at doing this.

It’s becoming a habit for her to automatically tune into her body and identify the emotion she is feeling.

She pauses for a moment and asks herself if this is the emotion that she wants to take action from.

It shows up in a variety of ways.

Often, it’s in her interactions with her family members.

She used to react to things that were said to her.

Coming up with stories in her head of how the person didn’t understand her or was trying to make her mad.

She would feel angry or offended.

Then she closed herself off. Gave the silent treatment or said something snarky back.

But now she knows better.

She has practiced tuning in to how she is feeling.

Because my client knows that she creates her emotions from thoughts she is thinking.

And her actions come from the emotions that she is experiencing.

She wants to be very deliberate with her actions.

She’s no longer interested in doing things because she feels obligated or pressured or offended.

She wants her actions to be intentional.

She wants her actions to come from the emotions that support the confident, loving, empowered life she is creating.

No one in her life has changed.

She’s the only one who is doing the changing.

And her life is different.

Using her emotions as data has become so much a part of her that she now brings it up in conversation.

It’s natural for her to offer this idea to those she cares about.

She knows it will help them if they buy into it.

I have a journal for how I am changing beliefs.

When I see how something I’m thinking is limiting my growth, I decide to work on changing that belief or thought to something more useful.

In this journal, I have a note that I jotted down recently about the thing I’m working on.

It says, “I will not do this from FEAR or JUDGMENT.”

It doesn’t say anything about the action I am taking to accomplish my goal.

Because I know that the correct action will follow if I have the feeling I want.

I notice when I feel the tightening in my chest that comes when I feel fear.

I notice when I feel closed off or defensive when I’m in judgment. It’s like my insides have slammed a door.

I can feel my inner smirk and eyes looking down in criticism.

No one would be able to tell from looking at me from the outside, but I feel it within me.

This data I feel inside my body is how I know what I don’t want to feel when I’m accomplishing this goal.

I know what I don’t want to feel…but I know what I do want to feel, too.

I have learned to tell the difference.

My client has, too.

It has changed everything for her.

Our emotions are valuable data.

Learning to read this data and intentionally use it to drive our actions is a skill.

When you combine the ability to use your emotions as data with your ability to take action, it’s like setting off a bomb of peace, calm, determination and…accomplishment.

Your life will never be the same again.

Sending love,

K