Imagine you're on a road trip in a car containing two things: a sophisticated global positioning system and a friend who keeps shouting the wrong directions. That's a good analogy for the way most of us choose our behavior. We're born primed and loaded with mechanisms that point us toward our best lives. But we're also inevitably inundated by misguided commentary from the world, the people around us and our fearful, chattering minds. Learning to screen out the bad advice and listen to our inner GPS is a daily moment-to-moment practice that can keep us out of danger and headed where we really want to go.

How to Hear Your GPS

Here's the key thing to remember about your failsafe navigational system: It isn't verbal. Many of us try to reason or analyze our way to good decisions. It almost never works. Life is simply too complex. The verbal part of your brain is capable of processing up to 40 bits of data per second—pretty impressive. But the nonverbal part is vastly superior, processing 11 million bits of data per second. That's the navigational system you can trust.

The most important thing you'll ever do is notice when your feelings—physical and emotional—disagree with the instructions coming from your verbal mind.

Your internal GPS sends signals not through thoughts, but through physical and emotional sensations. If you begin to stray from your optimal path, your body begins losing strength and vibrancy. You feel weary, even exhausted. Keep heading in the wrong direction, and you'll get downright sick. Your emotions will be sending their own signals, first subtle, then stronger: Anxiety, irritability or gloominess slowly escalate into panic, rage and despair.

All these feelings are your inner GPS telling you, "You're getting colder! You're getting colder!" If you change course, heading toward whatever may be closer to your right life, the signals ease, then give way to relaxation, higher energy, peace, gratitude and happiness: "You're getting warmer! You're getting warmer!"

Don't Sell Out

Given the clarity of these signals, why would we ever ignore them? Blame that chattering passenger riding along with us—the highly social verbal brain. This being is designed to imitate and obey others, not to steer you toward authentic happiness. It endlessly repeats what you've learned from others: your mother telling you to work harder, a friend sneering at your taste in music, a TV ad implying you're too fat. The most important thing you'll ever do is notice when your feelings—physical and emotional—disagree with the instructions coming from your verbal mind.

Imagine yourself back in that car, "listening" only to the feel of the GPS, not the voice of your passenger. Focus fully on the sense of getting "warmer" or "colder," and turn toward warmth. Rest when you need to, even if mom says keep working. Listen to your favorite song, whatever your friend thinks. Know you're the perfect size for you in this moment. Keep steering by your GPS, and the critical voice will slowly fade. Eventually, you'll be headed straight home, hearing only the signals that help you trust yourself.

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