The Happiness Project: A psychological principle that works like magic: Act as I would feel.

The Happiness Project: A psychological principle that works like magic: Act as I would feel.:
Gretchen Rubin
The Happiness Project Blog


"One of the most helpful things I’ve learned in my happiness research is that although we think that we act because of the way we feel, in fact, we often feel because of the way we act.

As a result, one of my Twelve Commandments is “Act as I would feel.” And as improbable as it may sound, it really works. Try it. If you don’t like the way you’re feeling, act as you’d like to feel—and your feelings will change. Like magic.

William James sums up the phenomenon nicely: “Action seems to follow feeling, but really action and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control of the will, we can indirectly regulate the feeling, which is not.”"

Read Full Article: http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2006/09/a_psychological.html


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This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.