Heads up! I have a new article out in the March edition of Esteem Yourself E-Magazine. You can check it out at Esteem Yourself Magazine
Using Emotions as a Personal Growth Tool
Emotions are our inner self’s way of communicating when situations are either in line with or incongruent with our core values. If you make a habit of keeping that statement in mind as you encounter daily life occurrences, you can actually start to use your emotions, especially the “negative” ones as a very efficient and effective personal growth tool. These are the basic steps to get you started on the process:
-Identify the feeling. Fully attempt to describe what this feeling is, what it feels like mentally and physically. If possible try to pinpoint and calm each of the physical reactions. Is your jaw clenched? If so, bring your awareness to that part of your body and begin to relax it. The body is a physical reinforcement of how we feel internally. If, as you are working to identify the feeling, you can relax the physical reactions and allow yourself a break from the intensity of the emotion so that you can better focus on addressing the emotional part of the feeling.
-Acknowledge to your inner self that it is a valid feeling, even if you don’t understand the cause or trigger at first. Listen to the inner voice of your emotion with an open and respectful mind. You are having this emotion for a valid reason, even if you feel it is unjustified on the surface. By listening you will learn and come to appreciate yourself on a whole new level.
-Understand the intent of the emotion. Your inner self has a positive intent reason for giving you different emotions. Your inner self is most often trying to protect some perceived vulnerability within you or communicate some infraction against a core value. It will often escalate messages to you if the first attempts are ignored, until you finally acknowledge your internal need. Remember no matter how scary or harsh the emotion you finally pay attention to is, it is still from the same core value.
-Use your emotional history to see how you have handled this emotion in the past. If you have successfully overcome this type of situation in the past, you can again. Even if you believe the emotion you are facing is new, and that you have no prior history with it, know that through analyzing and use of trial and error you will often find that the way through is not as difficult as it first seemed.
-Focus your attention on applying a strategy that successfully helped you figure out and work through the emotion in the past. Do not allow yourself to get caught up in the unproductive circular stress of reacting to the emotion instead of analyzing and addressing it.
Remember emotions that are not dealt with will usually increase in intensity until addressed. Make every attempt to honor your inner core values and catch internal messages early on to live in a more constant state of harmony.
Check out my new article!
Hi everyone, I hope you all have had a wonderful and safe holiday season. I wanted to share with you my latest article in the January 2013 edition of Esteem Yourself E-Magazine. My article as well as other great motivational pieces can be found at Esteem Yourself E-Magazine
5 Tips to Keep on Track with Your Goals During the Holidays
The holiday season each year brings with it not only a sense of joy and celebration, but often times a sense of difficulty with staying on target with personal goals. this difficulty can come from either time conflicts due to increased visiting and scheduled events, as well as from the overabundance of yummy feel good foods. Here are some tips I have found to be helpful in getting through this time of year with your progress and goals still intact:
- Set dedicated time everyday to focus on your goal progress and make it early in the day. Having a schedule will condition your mind to be ready to work when the appropriate time arrives, and therefore less likely to forget to complete important tasks.
- Indulge in quantified and measurable moderation. Don’t deny yourself, as that will only create feelings of resentment. At the same time you don’t want to throw caution to the wind and indulge “whole hog.” Remember that the reason you are indulging is because you are making a controlled and informed decision to enjoy. If the indulgence is play time, allow yourself a measured amount of time to relax and enjoy. If it is a food or consumable indulgence, measure yourself a small portion that is clearly defined, like one piece, one scoop etc. You are in control of your own success.
-Use a buddy system. Having a friend support system helps provide motivation, camaraderie, and a helping shoulder to lean on when times get tough.
-Remember to make your choices from the stand point of the goal successful you. By making the decision in the mind frame of the goal successful self, you are more likely to make the decision that is in support of the goal.
-Above all, strive to make each day your best and most fulfilling!
A Bit of News
Hi All,
I wanted to take a moment to share that I have recently started participating as a Contributing Writer for an e-magazine named Esteem Yourself. My first article for them has been published in the November 2012 issue, and can be found at http://www.esteemyourself.com/build.php#flamelightway. Please feel free to peruse my article as well as the other wonderful contributions available on their website. Hope everyone had a safe and festive Halloween!
~Adrie
