Physiology and Success
The mind and body are two parts of a cybernetic loop. Conventional wisdom is that our bodies reflect what we're thinking in our minds. For example, if we were to observe someone who feels depressed, we might notice that his eyes are lowered, he's taking shallow breaths, and he's hanging his head and looking down toward the floor. If we were to ask what he's thinking, he might tell us about all of the things that have gone wrong recently in his life, other things that could go wrong, insults he has endured, etc.
However, we now know this interpretation is incomplete and inaccurate. Instead of passively reflecting our mental states, our physiology also contributes to them. That's the cybernetic loop at work. Try this exercise to see the effects of physiology in action.
First, lower your eyes and hang you head, breath lightly from your upper chest, repeat to yourself (internally) how bad your day is, and start seeing mental images of everything bad that's happened to you lately. If you're standing, shuffle your feet when you slowly walk around. When you're talking to youself (internally), speak slowly - even faintly - and keep your volume even and monotonous.
Clear your mind. Think about something funny that happened to you recently - repeat a joke to yourself, anything to get out of the depressed physiological state you were just in.
Now, stand up and stretch your arms as high as you can into the air. Take several really deep breaths - fill your lungs, hold the air in for 10 seconds, and exhale. Repeat a few times. Bounce around a little pretending you're a prize fighter. Light on your feet, ready for anything. Imagine music in the background (maybe the theme from Rocky). Throw your shoulders back and stare straight ahead like you're ready to take on the world.
While you're doing this physical activity, try to think about the same bad things you thought about in the earlier exercise. Don't change your state - keep breathing deeply, keep bouncing around, hold your shoulders back like you're ready for anything, hear the music. If you're talking to yourself (internally), change the volume and tempo of your words so that they're louder and faster.
What you'll find is that it's virtually impossible to be depressed unless you manifest depression physiologically. They physical part isn't just a reflection of the mental part, it's all part of the same process. Therefore, the quickest way to stop feeling lousy it to change your physiology radically in a way that would reflect something other than feeling lousy - joy, exuberance, wild excitement, whatever works for you. That's physiology in action.
For a much more in-depth discussion of this topic, see Chapter 9: Physiology, the Avenue of Excellence in Unlimited Power.