Big Ideas

Harness the positive from your negative emotions

  1. If we choose to numb the negatives and you also numb the positives
    • You can’t get rid of -ve negative emotions without also suppressing the +Ve ones
  2. People avoid negative because they underestimate their capacity to handle distress

For example – ANXIETY is considered a negative emotion

  1. How does anxiety affect us?
    • Too little anxiety – Leads to boredom and lack of attention
    • Too much anxiety – Paralyzes a person and Leaves them overwhelmed
    • Anxiety can narrow your thinking and make you very focussed. But that is not always bad … because that is what you need in certain situations
    • Heightened perception, awareness, being able to tune out other un important things … are all a requirement in those special moments

Stop thinking about emotions as good or bad in general

  1. Instead harness their power
    • Anger = enhances courage
    • Anxiety = Enhances awareness

Emotional Labelling

  1. Clarify and label the emotions being felt
    • Each distinct emotion
    • Clarify and label Without getting tangled up in it
    • When we clarify and label negative emotions they loose their grip on us
  2. Dont clump all emotions as one
    • Separate them
    • Nietzsche said: “Language dictates consciousness”
    • When it comes to emotions – Differentiate as much as you can. You will gain
      • Access to joys of higher peaks
      • Skills to handle deeper valleys

On Happiness

  1. We wrongly predict what will make us happy in the future
    • Because we overlook our capacity to tolerate and even adapt to discomfort
    • We overestimate how happy we will feel when something +ve happens
    • We underestimate our capacity to tolerate distress
  2. In order to live well
    • We can’t just accept positive emotions and deny -ve emotions
    • We have to live FULLY
      • Being able to handle whatever life serves
  3. Don’t make happiness your goal
    • You have more joy when you don’t make happiness your goal

Interview Links

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