How are you Feeling today?
How are you Feeling today?
How often do we stop and check in with ourselves to get a sense of how we are really feeling? When you ask this question – the answer is normally an automatic response of Grand/Fine! Neuroscience research has shown a direct correlation to our feelings on our behaviour and performance.
This feelings wheel below provides a useful visual to force us to explore and be more specific about our true feelings at any point in time.
I have a copy on my desk and find it really useful to check in first thing in the morning as I launch into the activities for the day.
4 Simple questions to ask yourself
• What percentage of time do I/we spend in each zone?
• What is the impact of each zone on our performance?
• What causes me/us to be in Stress or Burnout?
• What actions do I/we commit to?
If we spend too much time in the high stress zone, this can led to long term health implications. A recent article in the Harvard Business Review quoted the World Health Organisation describing stress as the “global health epidemic of the 21st century.” With the arrival of smart phones and the always-on wifi – many of us work in constantly connected, always-on, demanding work environments, where stress and risk of illhealth and burnout are widespread. Now more than ever, we need to have a focus on building and maintaining our resilience skills to effectively manage your work and home life.
Here are 5 tips to support you in building your resilience and energy levels
Be Self Aware
Take time out to check in and be aware of your feelings and emotions. Are you constantly in the productive energise zone or unproductive stress zone ?
Manage Your State
How we feel profoundly influences how we perform. Pay attention to your physiology. Maintain your energy through good nutrition, getting enough sleep, exercise, rest and relaxation. Take regular breaks and use breathing exercises to calm down.
Control your Self-talk
Minimising negative thoughts caused by stressful situations will improve resilience. Visualise success and avoid thinking traps. E.g making situations personal, jumping to conclusions, generalizing and catastrophising. Don’t think of the worst that can happen – visualize your ideal outcome.
Boost Physcial Actvity
Regular physical activity of 2/3 times a week boosts your physical and mental health. Choose something that works for you with your schedule and preferences. The key is to build a health habit of regular exercise – running, swimming, cycling . Whatever works for you….
Build Social networks
Ensure you have a social circle separate from work, social connections are very important to maintain our positive energies, health and wellbeing.
To check out your resilience levels and avail of an Emotional Intelligence report, contact us via our website or email fiona@foresightcd.com
