Perhaps you worry that your emotions will overwhelm you and you’ll end up acting them out.
Regardless of why you’re not taking the time to process your feelings, understand that you are putting yourself at risk for burnout. That’s because your emotions don’t go away. They may just be hiding somewhere inside of you, but they’re in there and one of these days, the accumulation of all of those feelings can lead to serious problems.
Just when you’re stressed, frustrated, or scared and have the inclination to push your feelings down and out of sight, there is a better way.
Too Busy to Focus On Emotions
We all have too much on our plates. It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of your daily life. Who’s got time to deal with the stress, right?
I get it. I’m not only someone who coaches busy overachievers. I am one of them. In addition to working in my business, I work on my business and I have a family. In other words, I wear many hats. Sometimes work is stressful, although most of the time it’s family life that’s the culprit and I need to process my feelings to keep myself in check.
Here’s what I know. If you don’t MAKE time to focus on your feelings, you’ll never magically find the time. It comes down to understanding the importance of carving time out for this. The plain truth is that you can’t afford not to.
When you don’t take time to focus on your feelings and process them, they will spill over into other areas of your life. They can cause physical symptoms like headaches or stomach aches, as well as emotional ones like anger or depression. In fact, the thing we fear the most can come true. Your feelings, left unprocessed, will control you or lead you to self-sabotage.
You see, emotions are the driving force behind our actions. Our feelings drive us to act in a certain way based on what we think about ourselves and other people. If we don’t understand our feelings, then we might make decisions that aren’t aligned with who we really want to be.
Bottled Up Feelings
Bottled up feelings can lead to a host of problems. But what exactly are bottled-up feelings, and how do you know if you’re bottling them?
Bottling up your emotions is like keeping water in the bathtub, only to find that the tub is overflowing when you finally turn on the shower. Feelings are like water—they have to be released in order for us to feel healthy and happy. Holding back our emotions can lead to anxiety, depression, physical health problems (including heart disease), relationship problems, financial problems (such as debt), and even substance abuse issues.
So how do you let go of your bottled-up feelings? The first step is to identify what’s bothering you. If you can’t figure out what it is right away, try writing down everything that comes to mind when you think about the situation that has upset or frustrated you. Then look at all of these things and see if any of them seem related to your emotions.
If you find that there are several things bothering you, try to figure out which one is the most important. Is it something that happened recently or something from long ago? Does it have anything to do with your current life situation? If so, what part does it play in this particular situation?
You may want to talk about these issues with a friend or family member who can help you sort through them and make sense of what’s going on. You may even want to talk with a counselor or therapist. This can be helpful if you have trouble talking about your feelings, or if you feel like there’s something wrong with you because of these emotions.
If you’re feeling like there’s something wrong with you because of these feelings, please know that there isn’t. Feelings are normal; they’re just part of being human. You may not be able to control what you feel at any given moment, but it is possible to control how much attention you pay to those feelings and how much time you spend dwelling on them.
The more you can figure out why you’re having these feelings, and how they relate to your current situation, the easier it will be for you to deal with them. If they seem unrelated to anything in your life right now, try thinking about what happened just before or after the feeling came up — maybe there was a trigger of some kind that set off this emotional response.
You may be surprised to find out that you’re not the only one who has these feelings. It’s important to remember that everyone has bad days and moments where they feel sad or depressed. If you’re feeling sad and lonely, try to figure out what is causing these feelings. Is it something that happened recently or something from long ago? Does it have anything to do with your current life situation? If so, what part does it play in this particular situation? It’s important to remember that having feelings of anger or disappointment is not wrong. Everyone feels these things from time to time. What matters is how we handle them and what we do with them.
Acknowledge Your Feelings
The first step in managing your emotions is understanding the difference between feelings and emotions. Feelings are how you react to something that happens, while emotions are an involuntary reaction (i.e., if you get hit in the face with a baseball). Recognizing the difference between these two can help you identify what kind of situation might trigger certain emotions for you—and also allow you to recognize that they’re not permanent states of being: In other words, it’s okay if someone yells at me; they’re not “bad” or “evil.” This helps prevent us from getting stuck in our own sense of self-pity or anger when something doesn’t go our way—instead we can see those events as opportunities for growth and maturity.
Once we’ve learned how to identify our feelings appropriately, it’s time for mindfulness training! Mindfulness is essentially maintaining awareness without judgment—it’s like meditation but without any religious connotations (though there are plenty of religious practices that incorporate mindfulness techniques). When practicing mindfulness meditation on a regular basis (try 10 minutes per day), it becomes easier over time to identify what kind of situation will trigger certain emotional responses from yourself before those feelings actually happen–and therefore avoid getting caught up in negative thoughts about yourself or others before anything even happens!
This is why mindfulness training is so popular in today’s world. Mindfulness has been shown to have positive effects on our brains and bodies, including reduced stress levels and better sleep quality. It also helps us become more compassionate people! Mindfulness is a kind of mental training that involves focusing on your thoughts and feelings, and observing them without judgment or criticism. It’s like meditation but without any religious connotations (though there are plenty of religious practices that incorporate mindfulness techniques).
The first step to practicing mindfulness meditation is choosing a quiet, comfortable place to sit. You can do this for as little as 10 minutes at a time, but it’s important to make sure that you don’t get up during this time.
Mindfulness is not just a mental practice, it’s also something you can do physically. Try practicing yoga or tai chi on a regular basis to help your body feel more relaxed and flexible without judgment. This is a great way to prevent yourself from getting caught up in situations that could lead to a downward spiral of negative thinking. It might seem like it takes forever to get to this point, but the more you practice mindfulness meditation, the easier it’ll be for you to notice these triggers before they happen!
Tips to Manage Your Feelings
Feelings are scary. They’re messy and complicated, and they can make you feel like you’re losing control. But feelings are also important—they help us connect with others, understand our own needs better and even process difficult experiences. In fact, research shows that people who express their emotions well are more likely to be healthy, productive and successful in their lives than those who don’t. So how do we get better at acknowledging our feelings without letting them overwhelm us? Here are 4 tips:
1) Start by identifying the feeling: Is it anger, sadness, guilt or frustration? When you’re having a strong emotional reaction to something, it can be helpful to take a step back and identify what feeling that is. It’s easier to manage an emotion when you know what it is, and this will help you determine the best way to respond.
2) Remember that feelings aren’t facts: Just because you feel something doesn’t mean it’s true—feelings are often influenced by our expectations, memories and past experiences. For example, if someone cuts in front of you at the grocery store checkout line and speeds through their order, you may feel angry and frustrated. But if you take a step back and remember that it’s your thoughts that create your feelings, then you’ll be in a better position to consider why this person might be in such a rush—one that doesn’t have anything to do with you personally.
3) Use “I” statements: It can be tempting to blame the other person for your feelings, but this can make things worse by making it seem like they are responsible for your emotions. Instead, try using “I” statements that describe how you feel without placing blame on anyone else. For example, instead of saying “you made me upset,” try saying something like “I felt frustrated when we ran out of time during our phone conversation because I needed to ask some follow-up questions.”
4) Use a “we” statement: When you use a “we” statement, it can help make it clear that both people are responsible for the situation they are in. For example, if you feel like someone else’s behavior is making you angry or frustrated, try saying something like “I feel frustrated when we run out of time during our phone conversations because I need to ask some follow-up questions.” This way, it doesn’t make it seem like their actions are out of your control and you don’t have any responsibility for them happening.
Conclusion
There is no way to avoid your feelings, so you might as well learn how to manage them in a healthy way. You can do this by becoming aware of your thoughts, feelings and behaviors while they’re happening. Mindfulness can help you do just that.
You can’t control how you feel, but you can control what you do about it. When you start to notice the connection between what you think and how you feel, it will become easier for you to manage those thoughts in a more productive way. The more you practice being aware of what you’re feeling, the more you’ll be able to handle it.
—————————-
Do you want to get my Burnout Checklist for free?
I’ve created a checklist to help you identify signs of burnout and steps to take to get immediate results. Curious?
Click here to get the checklist.
Author
Recent Comments