An emotional diary is a very simple and effective form of working with your emotionality. Emotions are a traditional source of problems: for some, emotions jump, for others, emotionally stable states, but what kind? She has a habitual resentment, he has constant anger, and this one has a stable blues that lasts for years …
And in the heart of raster
And rain in the morning.
From where, right,
Such a blues?
What to do with it? A good answer is to start keeping an Emotion Diary. You just start a Diary in a notepad or in Excel, after which every half hour you begin to note your internal state on a scale down — negative emotions, up — positive emotions. Do this for at least a week and you will get the result: your inner state will become more stable only by keeping this Diary of Emotions, mood swings will become rare for you.
Something your children and your loved ones will be delighted with!
Such a diary of emotions is already being kept by many hundreds of people, and reliable statistics confirm the stabilization of the internal state. And not only stabilization, but raising the general emotional tone. You will become a brighter and more balanced person, always with a good smile on your face.
Wow, congratulations!
But what scale to use in this this Diary? Most people in their Scale of Emotions actually fix two points: “pleasant — not pleasant” emotion and “high — low energy”. Unpleasant emotions — down, pleasant — up! Low energy — down, high — up!
In general, this is reasonable, and many researchers classify emotions in this way by drawing a square: to the left — negative emotions, to the right — positive ones, up — an increase in energy, down — a decline.
However, how to transfer such a square to the vertical scale of your Diary of Emotions? What will be at the lower pole of your scale: a sharp emotional pain that explodes inside you, or a dull apathy when you no longer feel anything and do not want anything anymore? Think about it… I would probably put apathy as the worst when you basically died. And pain stores at least energy, and even though it hurts, you can at least fight!
And what will you put on top of the scale of the Diary of emotions? What will be the pinnacle of your dreams?
The sweetest and highest in energy is the state of ecstasy. But at the same time, ecstasy is one of the most stupid states, when the intellect is practically turned off. Someone rolls their eyes and freezes, someone screams wildly and jumps … Do you want such joy?
I don’t want that. My emotions have to work for me so that I can work better for people. The best state for me is not heady delight, but transparency of understanding. Not an enthusiastic squeal, but a dense stream of creative energy.
And, apparently, each emotion needs to be evaluated not by one, but by several indicators at once.
As well as an applicant for the position of a manager, where everything is important at once: experience, connections, knowledge of a particular production, and leadership style are important. We add everything up, take into account priorities, get the resulting …
And the list of these indicators may change, because different circumstances and different tasks. Offhand, I would suggest thinking about the four Energy, Positive, Constructive, Responsibility.
We need energy. Positive internal mood — pleases. If the emotion is destructive, like jealousy, it’s bad, but if it’s constructive, like gratitude, it’s good. And how much your irritation or falling in love is responsible — yes, it is useful to think about it.
In total, I use two scales for myself: Working condition and Attitude to the world.
The working state is the energy adequate to the situation and a clear head. I put numbers on the scale from -1 to +2:
- (-1) — no strength, head does not boil,
- (0) — tired, slow down,
- (1) — order, fully working condition,
- (2) — inspiration, energy splashes.
Attitude to the world is more complicated here. There are five options: 1) The world is beautiful, 2) The world is good, 3) The world is neutral, 4) The world is hostile, 5) The world is terrible. Transcriptions:
- The world is beautiful — life is wonderful, we love and are loved;
- The world is good — life is friendly to us, as we are to it;
- The world is neutral — the world is on its own, I am on my own. We are not friends with the world and do not quarrel;
- The world is hostile — life is hostile to me, but I have a chance to be the winner;
- The world is terrible — it is impossible to win in this world, my fight is lost. I’m still alive, but it’s only for now, because I can be crushed at any time …
According to the Attitude to the World scale, it is not so much the living emotion itself or a specific state that is fixed, but rather our view of what is happening, our kind of philosophy of life …
Total, the best thing is when I have a clear head, a lot of energy, I love life and people! And the worst of all is the opposite: the head does not understand, there is no energy, life is terrible, people are nasty, I am bad …
What are your choices? Write!
And I’m waiting for you at the Distance, so that you can master all this in practice.