How to Control Your Emotions in 5 Quick and Easy Steps

My negative emotions nearly killed me. Fear of conflict, panic about financial failure, and low self-esteem all paralysed my business and path to success. My life was a misery. The knock-on effects were acute anxiety, mind-numbing insomnia, and even a near death experience. If only I could control my emotions!

By chance, I learned about a phenomenon called neuroplasticity—how our brains adapt to experience. The human brain is constantly changing in response to our environment, even though we are unaware of it as we go about our lives. To my delight, I discovered there were tactics and strategies you can use to control this process of neural change, a practice called “self-directed neuroplasticity”.

It took me three years of research to understand and master the process. Over time, I learned to wire my brain for success—a skill that changed everything! I became calm, confident, and courageous. I created the business life of my dreams, and now, I live a life I love!

When negative emotions bubble to the surface of my consciousness, this is the five-step process I now use to control them, to transform them into positive emotions and experiences.

1. Be self-aware

Self-awareness—being attuned to and recognizing your emotions and thoughts—is the crucial first step.

Often in our busy lives, we are “on auto-pilot”, reacting to events happening around us with emotional responses, be they positive or negative. Problems occur when we continue to focus on adverse experiences, amplifying negative emotions. This becomes the default response, a self-perpetuating and enduring downward spiral—as I found at my cost!

Shifting our consciousness by being self-aware puts us back in control.

2. Name the negative emotion

Every emotion has a name. Wikipaedia provides a list of common emotions. What are the names of the frustrating or overwhelming negative emotions you feel? Mine were fear, anxiety, and insecurity.

3. “Flip” it into a Positive Emotion

Every negative emotion has an opposite. Using my experiences as an example, I flipped my negative emotions into courage, calmness, and confidence, respectively. What are the positive versions of the unwanted negative emotions you feel?

4. Use mental rehearsal, meditation, or mindfulness to embed the new and empowering emotions in your mind.

Neuroscientists proved these three practices cause the same wiring in your brain as real-life experiences. Rehearsing for, meditating on, or being mindful of the positive emotions we desire, causes our extraordinary brains to build brain cell networks to support and maintain them.

Tip: Create an avatar of yourself experiencing the positive emotions you want, and in the exact place and circumstances that set off your negative emotions. Using your senses, build on this avatar. I imagined myself looking, sounding, and feeling courageous, calm, and confident!

What happens to those dominating negative emotions? As you continue to divert your attention away from them, the brain cell networks controlling them become weaker, fewer, and less enduring. They become a benign memory, just part of our past.

5. Practice!

Neuroscientists have also proven that repetition strengthens brain cell networks, irrespective of whether the network is a positive or negative one. This is the scientific reason practice works!

By continuing to imagine positive emotions by practicing rehearsal, meditation, and mindfulness, you are embedding them in your mind, ready for when you need them most!

We need negative emotions in our lives. Otherwise, we would miss the dangers and threats to our well-being, health, and even to our existence. However, negative emotions become a problem when they dominate our lives, disrupting our mental health and well-being. The five-step process can put you back in a positive frame of mind, ready to enjoy the challenges and rewards that life throws our way!

The good news is: if you would like to create a fast track to the business life of your dreams—easily, inexpensively and in less than five weeks guaranteed—check out my course, Get Wired for Success! Discover How to Wire Your Brain for Success in Business and Life with Neuroscience-made-easy!

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