It would be ideal if every impulse you felt served your best interest. But impulses don’t work like that.
It would be nice if you could clearly and confidently separate impulses that serve you from impulses that don’t. But impulses don’t work like that, either. Impulses are adept at justifying their existence and the action they want you to take.
So, the responsibility falls to you and relies on your discipline.
Observe your impulses. Evaluate them. Assess each one against your standards, priorities, and targeted outcomes. In short, you must supply the judgment and discernment your impulses won’t.
Your feelings aren’t in charge of you. You are in charge of your feelings. Don’t expect every impulse to tell you the truth. Don’t act as if you are chained to every impulse. Don’t pretend that you are powerless.
You don’t have to demonize your impulses, but you don’t have to obey them. The moments between the impulses you feel and the decisions you make determine so much of your life. Those are the moments you must own. Those are the moments you must win.
Brick by brick. Do the work.
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