You can "feel good" most of the time

Guess what? The term “fake it till you make it” doesn’t have to pertain to your happiness. In fact, you can find happiness more of the time. We call it, the Upspiral. But, what’s an Upspiral?

An Upspiral is a term that describes “increasing positive emotion that has an energy, and that energy is always increasing.” Think of it this way: it’s compounding interest for your positive emotions, ultimately providing a stable sense of “feeling good.”

In this blog post we’ll talk about 3 things you should know about the Upspiral, and how each of those things can impact your long term emotional status.

Positive emotions have power:

Your positive emotions have the power to build you up and help you break free of the chains of pessimism. That’s pretty cool, huh? That’s why it’s important to practice having positive emotions. Also, it’s crucial that you understand positive emotions are not dictated by outside events, they’re dictated by you.

That’s right, you have the control to create positive emotions.

And these emotions hold power and influence in your life.

Think about it this way: Every thought you have impacts your life and your brain, and because of this, you’re becoming what you think and feel. Maybe you’re heard this before, or perhaps told it to your kids, “garbage in, garbage out.” Well, it could also be written, “positive in, positive out.”

Positive emotions are your choice and they do have power in your life.

So, create positive habits:

Since you have the power to choose, you must create positive habits in choosing. And guess what, habits are hard to make. On average, a habit can take anywhere from 60-200 days to be fully considered a habit. Thus, try following these three steps:

1. Create readily accessible reminders: One of the ways habits fail to form is that we don’t remind ourselves enough (thus, we forget). So, create some readily accessible reminders. Whether on your phone, on the fridge, or through a person, make sure you have some sort of reminder system in place that works best for you.
2. Schedule regular - and consistent - action items: In order for a habit to be formed, the habit must actually be done/completed. So, schedule times to do it. In regards to building your positive emotions, maybe take 10 minutes a day - at a specific time - to look in the mirror and tell yourself positive things. However you do it, make it a regular routine.
3. Give yourself a positive reinforcement: You’re doing good while forming a positive habit, and you deserve a “treat.” Figure out a way to reward yourself. Maybe once you reach two weeks of successfully accomplishing the habit, you get to treat yourself to ice cream, a round of golf, a 30 minute nap, or whatever it is you love. Habit forming is hard work, make sure you celebrate your successes.

When you are able to create positive habits, you’ll be better prepared to control and choose your positive emotions. This allows you to take back the power of your mind.

But, understand the system:

Here’s one thing you won’t hear often. Once you create the Upspiral system, you’ve also created a dangerous tool, and here’s why.

By simply allowing negative thoughts / emotions into the same formula above, you can enter a Downspiral. Just like how you can choose your positive emotions, and the track to enhance them, you can also choose the opposite.

However, it’s also important to be aware that the brain has a natural 9-1 ratio that leans more towards negative thoughts, thus making the playing field of emotions inequal. Because of this, it’s important to dedicate time and effort towards positively reinforcing your brain (3 to 5 times as much as any negative reinforcement).

Keep that in mind as you begin to work through your Upsprial.

In closing, your emotions - positive and negative -  will continue to rewire the neuropathways in your brain. So, we have just one question for you?

Are you being intentional about living in the Upspiral?

If you don’t know the answer to that question, let's connect! We can help with a few additional tips to further your emotional positivity, your career, and your happiness.

Have You Ever Put Anything In "The Complicator?"

Please laugh along with me... In my quest to be "perfect" this week I put a few work items unnecessarily in what my good friend and former colleague James Glenn calls "The Complicator."

I took something relatively simple, overthought it, yes even stewed about it perhaps, and from a place of fear and threat designed a set of action steps that was nearly 7X longer than my original list.

Why? Because I wanted to "control" as many variables as I could.

So yesterday, on my day off, as I'm cleaning the house, doing laundry, feeding my two-year old, vacuuming, and running errands, all of the realness of the truest story hits me in a moment and I begin to smile, chuckle, and laugh.

And then I was reminded of my good friend Ferris Bueller's friend Cameron Frye, who was, as Ferris claimed, so tight he could turn charcoal into a diamond.

And perhaps in a different way, my tightness this week, is beginning to be chiseled away to reveal something more wonderful - at a new and deeper level for me. Hardly a diamond, but maybe the start of one.

"A knowing what I want, a belief I can achieve it, and a greater openness to how it comes to me."

From a place of greater control that line might read, "a knowing what I want, a belief I can achieve it, and a dogmatic death grip on a strategy to get it."

With the tightening of the grip comes the almost guaranteed slip. With the loosening of the grip comes a more enjoyable trip.

So as Elsa sings, "Let it go." For in the letting go comes the enjoyment that I so massively crave.

And maybe it's what you crave too.