How many times have you committed to a new goal (or recommitted to an old one) with a fresh burst of energy and enthusiasm, only to find yourself getting derailed somewhere along the way?  You encounter an obstacle that throws you off course, and your efforts come to a halt.

All that confidence and enthusiasm you started off with fades away, replaced with frustration and discouragement.  As those feelings intensify and gain a deeper foothold, many people wind up abandoning their goals entirely.  How do you avoid this scenario?

Your feelings are part of an amazing and powerful communication system designed to guide and protect you.  While you don't want to be trapped, controlled, or incapacitated by your feelings, you do want to be aware of them and cognizant of what you're experiencing at any given time.

That awareness enables you to assess what's going on in your life so you can choose how best to respond. 
 
As you strive to become more attuned to your feelings, here are seven feelings you should never ignore.

You drag your feet.  You procrastinate.  Perhaps you have a big job to complete and you feel overwhelmed, unsure of how to get started.  Perhaps you have an unpleasant task before you and you would simply rather not deal with it. 

Then there are those times when the task you're facing is neither all that big, nor particularly difficult or unpleasant.  Nevertheless, you still find yourself putting it off day after day.

There's a stability and inner calm that comes with feeling like you're on top of things.  Who wouldn't want to feel this way?  Yet so many people don't feel this way at all.  Instead, they're busy, rushed, and stressed, as they struggle to keep up with everything going on. 

When you're already stretched, it doesn't take much to knock you off balance and throw you off course.  Even something minor can be overwhelming and difficult to deal with.  
 
Here are three reasons why you're feeling busy, rushed, and stressed; and how you can start turning things around.

We've all gone through periods when we felt tired, stuck, or unmotivated.  Your energy is down, and simply getting through each day may feel like a challenge.  Pushing yourself to take action during these times can be difficult, yet this is often precisely what's needed to start turning things around.   
 
In her book I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was, Barbara Sher emphasizes the importance of action when you're feeling stuck.  She also makes the connection between action and luck.  In short, your willingness to take some type of action directly influences the amount of good luck that comes your way.
 
Sher provides four good reasons for taking action, even when you're unclear about what you want or feeling unmotivated. 

It's easy to fall into the trap of overthinking when you have an important decision to make.  You go back and forth endlessly as you struggle to determine what your best move is.  Yet instead of making progress, you find yourself right back where you started.
 
Much of this overthinking happens when you're committed to making “perfect” decisions with the hope everything will turn out exactly as planned.  But given the complexity of life with all its twists and turns, there’s always the potential for something unexpected to come along and throw things off. 

With that said, decisions have consequences, sometimes far-reaching ones, so you want to invest time and care to make the best decisions possible.
 
Here are four ways to make healthy, sound decisions without overthinking.

As you move through life, you’re constantly making decisions.  It starts with when to get out of bed, what to have for breakfast, how long to spend in the shower, what to wear... And that’s all before you’ve even left the house! 
 
Many of these daily decisions can be made quickly and easily, but all decisions aren’t like that.  There are times when your best bet is to hold off until you're in a better position to make the best decision possible. 
 
Here are five times when you'll want to press pause before making a decision.