"The real value of the acronym 'H.A.L.T.' is that when you are Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired, it's best not to make any important decisions about what to do, where to go, or your direction in life."

I find this quote can be very helpful in ensuring that when I am not in the best 'place' I either do not make any important decisions or more often, involve trusted others if a decision is required to be made due to a certain timescale.

It is now well researched, as I have said before, that there are more 'messages' sent from the heart to the head than the head to the heart and as our hearts are the primary source of how we feel, they influence how we act.

The emotional state we are in, will always 'colour' and even reduce our thinking. If we are upset, annoyed or disturbed, the strong signals from our heart to our brain will close down crucial parts of our thinking capacity and capability. The decisions we will then make will not involve some of our higher brain capacity and will often be far poorer in the bigger picture of things.

The classic case is when we are angry and our emotions take over and we say something or make a decision which quite clearly we later regret.

There are tools around which can be purchased (e.g. Heartmath) which I use and is great for this, as it visually shows in real time, what state our heart is in - as we often need this feedback to become more self aware. I sometimes work with people and offer the thought that they cannot speak unless they are in green (high heart coherence). In this 'state' they are using all of their natural capabilities, intellect, intuition et al and will therefore make the best decision they can as a complete human-being.

We see this demonstrated in a physical sense when a sports person will demonstrate 'great balance' to do something quite special - they are in full control of their body, aware of all its parts and can thus do something quite unique with that full body self awareness.

What can you do to practice being more self-aware, fully mindfull of your thoughts and feelings?

How balanced are you when you make decisions?

Maybe use H.A.L.T. as a tool to keep yourself more in balance and avoid poor decisions which in hindsight we find were not helpful.

Les

A Moodscope member.