October is National Emotional Awareness Month
The month of October is a great time to do some self-reflection and assessment on our emotional health and find ways that we can become more aware, attuned, and proactive. In our daily lives, we encounter conflict, stress, frustration etc., but emotional regulation helps us keep our reaction to these situations under control. By properly managing our emotions, we’re able to respond to difficulties in a healthy and socially appropriate way. It is probably good to take a breath, pause and consider the need to provide emotional regulation to our lives and spend some time thinking about our emotional health using these four tips.
Knowing our emotions
We must be sufficiently self-aware to recognize our emotions as they happen. People with greater clarity regarding their feelings manage their lives better.
Managing our emotions
Building on self-awareness, it is vital that we are able to manage our emotions. The skill helps us handle distress and upset and bounce back from the inevitable setbacks of life.
Motivating ourselves
Emotional self-control is crucial for paying attention, for self-motivation and mastery, and for creativity. Besides keeping impulsiveness in check and delaying gratification, motivation can help us get into a flow state and boost our performance.
Recognizing emotions in others
Empathy builds on our emotional self-awareness. This vital skill is hugely important in keeping us tuned in to others needs and wishes.
Adapted from Positive Psychology, Dr Jeremy, Sutton, November 2021
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