Know What Affects Your Mood

Thank you so much for continuing on this journey with me. Last week we took a deeper dive into four key principles to becoming your own mood expert:

1. Keeping Positive

2. Creating a Treasury of Mood Adjusters

3. Assessing your Lifestyle Choices

4. Practicing Gratitude

I hope as you explored your thoughts last week that you took some notes, and brainstormed how to get ahead of your moods and take control. Further to my points above, I also find that creating a calendar of up and down swings helps. Perhaps you get the Monday blues, or by Friday night you’re so worn out that you don’t want to get off the couch (we’ve all been there!).

If you want to become your mood expert, you’ll want to know how external events tend to affect you. Some people go into high-action, rational mode during a time of high productivity or crisis. This has the advantage of managing the situation well and not being overwhelmed by emotions, yet it also has its down side. If you’re one of those people, you may find yourself operating on overdrive, having trouble sleeping, not eating properly, etc. It may show up as restlessness, an ability to wind down even after a highly productive day (“Now that I can afford to relax, why can’t I relax?”). It may also come out as irritability, not feeling hungry even if your body probably needs to eat, etc.

If this sounds like you, then you’ll want to select calming, centering activities, aimed at turning away from the demands of life and focusing inward. Now is the time for your reading, being in nature, meditation, painting, fun time with someone (WITHOUT continual phone-checking!)

If you’re more prone to low moods or even have a history of depression, then you’re likely to respond in kind in times of stress. If you react, whether something happened or just because you’re feeling down, by shutting down or feeling numb, you may be a hibernator. Isolating from others, vegetating on the couch, watching TV, eating too much unhealthy food (or drinking too much alcohol), for hours on end… are common habits of this group! If this is you, you’ll want to choose energizing activities that get you out of your head and into action.

Successful mood managers look to anticipate. When you know how you tend to respond to life events, you can begin to help yourself through the experience more powerfully and more quickly. This is the time to get out your toolbox of mood adjusters.

Don’t wait until you have an hour or even 30 minutes to restore balance in your life. A small pocket of time can make a big difference until you can carve out a bigger chunk. If you have just 5 minutes, use them to give yourself a gift… of greater happiness.

A final nugget of wisdom: Remember that small things can bring much joy. Many small joyful moments that you MADE happen, rather than waiting for them to happen for you, will give you a happier life. And will have you operating from a better mood baseline. So that when the big positive stuff happens, watch out… it’ll be CRAZY GOOD!