Issue 18: Emotional Habits
THE LEAP
BY QUANTUM ORANGE
GROW, EXPAND & EVOLVE
ISSUE 18 | EMOTIONAL HABITS
Each week The (Quantum) Leap summarises a key aspect of success into what you need to Think, Feel and Do to create a personal shift.
THINK
Emotional reactions and responses are programmed into our brains over time, just like walking down the same path day after day. Eventually the paths become worn in - easy, familiar, automatic.
Emotional habits form strong neural pathways, so they are processed in the brain much faster than intentional behaviour.
Therefore, to change an emotional habit, you will need to develop a new one that is incompatible with the one you want to change.
Bring to mind an emotional habit you would like to let go.
What were you thinking and feeling immediately before the habit took over?
What new thoughts or feelings could you employ in the future to help build immunity against this habit?
FEEL
Everyone gets emotionally ‘stuck’ from time to time - from an inability to move forward, to unexpressed emotions festering, to a feeling you just can’t shake.
When this occurs, the best thing you can do is physically get up and move yourself to a new environment. Go outside and walk in a park, head to a favourite cafe or restaurant - just pick somewhere that has different energy.
The physical shift can help to move feelings of being stuck very quickly and effectively.
DO
This week, pay attention to the ways that your emotions drive habitual behaviours in your life. Create a chart where you list your emotions in one column and write notes next to each one when you notice yourself using habitual behaviour to try to ‘solve’ the emotion.
Give each behaviour a mark out of 10, rated by whether it is good for you or not.
This exercise takes your emotional habits and the resulting behaviours off auto pilot and allows you to put them under a microscope. Doing so will give you the power to redesign your habits to serve you best.
Read. Watch. Listen.
