We made it through 2017!
It was a difficult one wasn't it?
But now it's over and it's time to focus on something that many of us have been overlooking. When was the last time someone sat down with you and asked how you felt? Hmm? For me that would have most likely been months ago. Which is farrr too long.
We live our daily lives and rarely ask one another how we are actually feeling. And then we complain about how mental health should be a number one priority and the states should take more care and focus on mental health. However, the truth is that we don't actually know how to fix ourselves. We don't know enough about our own mental health to make positive changes. But there are many resources out there and my goal this year is to share them with you to help at least a little bit. I'm going to share with you what helps me get through negative cycles.
With these tiny tips you should be able to slowly come to understand yourself better and to begin seeing the human beings around you in a different light. As a UX designer my empathy levels are beyond the charts, I have to put myself in someone else's shoes everyday. I can share that knowledge with you to help you grow into a more empathetic, understanding and charming person.
Steps to remember:
- Ask yourself how you are feeling on a daily basis, you can even practice and ask yourself several times a day to see how your mood fluctuates
- Figure out why you are currently feeling that way?
- What caused it and is it positive or negative?
- If it's negative what can you do to switch it into a more positive feeling?
- If it's positive make sure to hold onto the feeling and think about where you currently are, this will embed the memory much deeper into your brain
Research and Resources
This is the article that explains how your emotions dictate majority of your decisions.
Here is the podcast that explains how that theory works, it's super short so go and listen!
Just Listen by Mark Goulston is one of my favorite books because it taught me how to control my emotions and how to work with other people's emotions as well. I highly recommend it.
Can you look at someone's face and know what they're feeling? Does everyone experience happiness, sadness and anxiety the same way? What are emotions anyway? For the past 25 years, psychology professor Lisa Feldman Barrett has mapped facial expressions, scanned brains and analyzed hundreds of physiology studies to understand what emotions really are. She shares the results of her exhaustive research -- and explains how we may have more control over our emotions than we think.
The way that we see emotions in others are deeply rooted in predictions. So to us, it feels like we just look at someone's face, and we just read the emotion that's there in their facial expressions the way that we would read words on a page. But actually, under the hood, your brain is predicting. It's using past experience based on similar situations to try to make meaning. -Lisa Feldman Barrett at TED@IBM
How do I track my feelings?
I'm glad you asked! I actually just purchased an amazing little planner designed by Christine Herrin, I'm very much obsessed with her designs because they are extremely user friendly and when it comes to day to day emotion filing this little "Explorer Planner" is the way to go. Here, check out some images of it!
For $35 dollars you are getting a lot of goodies, I bought it because I like the way it's divided and because there are activities inside that work well with emotional responses.
I love supporting awesome designers and she really does create quality products so I am always happy to recommend her goodies to the public! Check out the link down below for more info :)
2018 is a new start, so start out smart!
I hope these mini tips will help you have a successful 2018. If you haven't already please subscribe and like my video, comment below and tell me if these tips help you or if you know someone who could use these tips!
Thanks guys!
Credits:
Created with images by Ian Schneider - "untitled image" • Pexels - "new year's eve sparkler sylvester" • Jakob Owens - "Sparkler in the snow" • Allef Vinicius - "Woman holds out sparklers" • Warren Wong - "untitled image" • Pexels - "bright close-up dark"