Ok time to change my mind set. I woke up this morning tired and grouchy school starts in two hours and I need to get my head in the game. Coffee is helping but chemical mood enhancers are not the answerer but what is? There are a lot of tricks, mental kicks in the pants so to speak that we can give ourselves to put our heads in the right place.
Music: A classic time honored Way to change your mood. No other form of art has such a direct impact on our emotional state then music. Even just a few minutes to listen to the right song or two can put us back on track.
Success: Find something to succeed at that is quick and easy, a video game, a puzzle, a martial arts form something that can be done quickly with a degree of assured success but enough difficulty that we have to work for it. Wining makes us happy.
Rituals: If we have little things we do to prepare ourselves for the day these can go a long way to creating the proper mind set. We recently started using a French press for our coffee and the process of making the coffee is becoming a divider between my wake up time and the productive part of the day.
Exercise: A few pushups or a quick jog can not only get the blood flowing but release some of the tension we are holding on to.
Clean: Straiten up your desk, pick up your room do the dishes. It can be difficult, if not impossible to think clearly in a cluttered and messy space.
Act: Act how you feel. If you do not have the time to do even a quick exercise to get yourself in a better frame of mind just consciously externalize the emotion you want on the inside. Our body posture and facial expression can radiate inward as much as outward.
The bottom line is that when we need to change our mood we need to make a break of some kind with the mental space that has the bad feeling and the new one we want to have. Creating a boundary event for the bad mood draws a line in the sands of time saying that was how I felt then and this is how I feel now.
A quick note on the links here some are internal some are external, some of them are spot on others are tangential to the topic; all of them are good articles worth reading. Have a great day and if you have any thoughts on quick mood alteration let me know.
Posts
8 comments:
Hey Quinn - Thanks for the link! I'm a big fan of many of the things on your list. Especially music. It really shifts my world view. Oh, and I did make my bed this morning. Like so many say, that makes a huge difference. Have a great week!
Hi Patty make the bed is a great one i need to get in the habit of that. The final turning point for my morning was a chocolate donuts with sprinkles, after that I was still tired but how can you be grumpy when you are eating a chocolate donut with sprinkles.
I agree completely. Music, puzzles, video games, and exercise are great ways to refocus one's thoughts when a person tends to dwell on negative things.
I always say an idle mind is the devil's playground.
So true Shelly idle thoughts are even worse then idle hands but when the hands are busy then the mind tends to become occupied.
Tess at The Bold Life posted "Did You Know"...when I really need a pick me up it's a 5 minute video and I'm usually in tears but motivated and grateful for the rest of the day or longer!
Usually all I have to do is remind myself how lucky I am to be alive and in Canada.
Action how we feel is the best way to go as long as its posiitve ad directed to right action. Act confidently and you'll will become this. Act successful and you'll embody the fact. But act pessimistic and you'll be a negative Ned.
Short and sweet post, nice.
Stephen Tess does have some wonderful things up at the bold life. I had not seen that one before but now it is on my list
Jonathan that is so true act how you want to feel is a powerful tool. thanks for stopping by.
Post a Comment