Spend your emotional energy wisely

I have had a number of great discussions lately with some good friends about effecting change and managing work stress. It is amazing how often the fundamental issue is really understanding what your emotional triggers are and what is driving your behaviour. As we've all heard and I myself have said many times, know thyself. Startng with the oracle at Delphi until now, people read the words but few people act on them.

Consider things that anger us. We focus externally and worry and argue when our sports team loses or over the conflict in the middle east. Why? It's not really relevant to most of us. How many people have actually even visited that part of the world. One of the key reasons, I think, is we avoid emotional risk and tough discussions. Things close to home, like career and personal relationships have much higher risk profiles whereas things extraneous to us can arouse our passions with 0 risk.

So...I think the key is to really focus our gaze inward and probe our true motivations. Ask the question Why? And then map out what your triggers are and decide what you are going to do to align them with your values. How will you change? Use negative triggers to motivate yourself. Share your findings with family and friends. Create and share a plan.

What do you think?