What feelings do you inhabit?

What feeling(s) predominate your days?

We live in a society that values thoughts over feelings, particularly in business. This makes it easy to ignore… how we feel. Just reading that will make some of you cringe, roll your eyes, and skip this post.

We disconnect from part of ourselves as if that part is weak and shameful. It can even be seen as inappropriate. The alternative is to keep it all inside and put up a “strong” front.

Few of us honor our feelings, understand their strength and are comfortable incorporating this kind of intelligence in our reasoning and decision making process. It’s even rarer to have conversations with people who see the value of operating in a way that integrates both logical intellect and intuitive feeling. It’s not an either/ or.

Being human gives us the advantage of both.
Honoring both sides of yourself as a whole person changes the quality of your personal and professional life. For entrepreneurs this makes a difference in how you conduct your business, the culture you create among your team members and how you serve your clients. A day spent in anxiety yields a different sense of self and the world, leading to different actions than a day spent feeling safe and inspired does.

I invite you to do an awareness exercise by asking yourself the following:

-What are the predominating feelings in your typical day? Are you constantly on the defense? Are you on the offense? Are you centered? Are you feeling peaceful? Are you excited and assertive? Do you have to crank yourself up in the morning or do you start your day fired up? Do you feel like a victim or full of gratitude? Are you having fun? Do you feel fulfilled? Are you hopeful?

– What do you do with those feelings? Do you ignore them? Do you hide them? Do you pass them along to others? Do you listen to them? Do you express them? What reaction do any of these actions get from others around you? Is it easy to feel or are you numb?

*Related reading: Why You Should Not to Be Afraid of Tears