Four practices for managing your emotions in tense moments
How to strengthen your ability to cope in difficult situations
The ability to recognise, own and shape your own emotions is the master skill for deepening intimacy with loved ones, magnifying influence in the workplace and developing the ability to turn ideas into results. But can you strengthen this core muscle of your emotional anatomy? Four practices can help you manage your emotions in difficult situations. 1. Own the emotion: You cannot change an emotion you do not own. The first thing to do when struck by an overpowering feeling or impulse is to accept responsibility for its existence. 2. Name the story: Emotions are the result both of what happens and of the story you tell yourself about what happened. One practice that can help you detach from and take control of your emotions is to name the stories you tell yourself. Is it a victim story, a villain story, a helpless story? Naming your stories helps you see them for what they are and make sense of what is happening. 3. Challenge the story: Once you identify the story, you can take contr...
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