Your Spine's Guide To Better Decisions

In The Heroic Mind program we talk about posture as the canary in the coal mine. It’s a fairly reliable compass for when we’re making choices that work for us vs those that don’t.
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For example: take any big goal you set for yourself (lose X pounds, hit such-and-such in revenue, etc).
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What happens when you say it out loud?
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It might not be obvious.
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At least not right away, but you’ll sense it...
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Do you collapse?
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Or do you feel a sense of internal support?
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Pretty telling already.
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Some people will go through all sorts
of mental gymnastics trying to motivate themselves, but the body still calls bullshit.
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Don’t get me wrong: folks who collapse (see the picture for reference) can still achieve the goal, but it’s far less likely, and they’re gonna be exhausted every step of the way.
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Why?
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There’s no leverage in that position. They’re fighting just to stay upright, let alone go out and do more!
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Now, for a bit of nuance...
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There’s a world of difference between feeling support and puffing yourself up.
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Puffing yourself up (think: whatever you do to create quintessential “proper posture”) is still a lot of work...
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How long do you imagine you can hold that for?
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Not long.
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So what do you do instead?
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Half the people reading this will hate this advice, but here it is...
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Give up. Lie down.
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At least for a few minutes.
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Notice what parts of your body feel the clearest contact with the ground. What parts of you feel most supported? Where do you have obvious awareness that you have a skeleton?
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It may not take long. Your body will signal that its time to get back up.
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But pushing yourself forward when you’re under-resourced and ill-equipped is...well, it’s compulsive and abusive.
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Not qualities we’d aim for in any other relationship. Yet that’s the cultural default for bodies.
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So again:
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1) Speak whatever goal/decision you have.
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2) Listen for the body’s response.
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It may be worth reevaluating that goal (or at least how you work toward it).
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If you try this, I’d love to hear whatcha think.