Do you constantly struggle with stress at work? Are you getting anxious before an important client meeting? There's an effective way to build resilience to it!
Researchers from the University of North Carolina conducted an experiment to check how people build resilience to negativity. They showed a short movie to a group of people, provoking in them such negative emotions as anger, fear, sadness etc. After the first movie, some of these people were shown another movie provoking more negative feelings, while other part of the group was shown a positive movie. Having measured the heart rate and brain activity of participants, researchers discovered that those who saw two negative movies at once took considerably longer to recover their natural heart rhythm than those who were shown a negative and then a positive movie.
What this means in practice is that if something negative happens to you, you can reduce its impact on you by consciously choosing to do something positive afterwards. Here's how to do it:
Pick one positive emotion. Think of the times when you were unconditionally happy, or in love, or trusting, or full of joy etc. Do you have any physical items, or music, or pictures associated with these periods of your life? Be really selective and only pick the strongest items!
Collect them and put in one special place – a box, perhaps, or an online folder if you only have digital images and music. If you don’t have any specific items, just find some that associate with this feeling.
Take your time when you are building this portfolio, enjoy the process and watch the feeling that arouses. Now every time you are feeling down, you can open your “joy magic box”, or “love magic box” and go through the items helping your brain and heart recover faster! You can also use it if you are nervous before an important meeting to “charge” yourself positively – I find that it does miracles for me!
Remember that as with every magic object, it needs your constant attention – the more you go through it, the stronger your positive feelings become! Oh, and do not tell anyone about it, otherwise the magic disappears!
Researchers from the University of North Carolina conducted an experiment to check how people build resilience to negativity. They showed a short movie to a group of people, provoking in them such negative emotions as anger, fear, sadness etc. After the first movie, some of these people were shown another movie provoking more negative feelings, while other part of the group was shown a positive movie. Having measured the heart rate and brain activity of participants, researchers discovered that those who saw two negative movies at once took considerably longer to recover their natural heart rhythm than those who were shown a negative and then a positive movie.
What this means in practice is that if something negative happens to you, you can reduce its impact on you by consciously choosing to do something positive afterwards. Here's how to do it:
Pick one positive emotion. Think of the times when you were unconditionally happy, or in love, or trusting, or full of joy etc. Do you have any physical items, or music, or pictures associated with these periods of your life? Be really selective and only pick the strongest items!
Collect them and put in one special place – a box, perhaps, or an online folder if you only have digital images and music. If you don’t have any specific items, just find some that associate with this feeling.
Take your time when you are building this portfolio, enjoy the process and watch the feeling that arouses. Now every time you are feeling down, you can open your “joy magic box”, or “love magic box” and go through the items helping your brain and heart recover faster! You can also use it if you are nervous before an important meeting to “charge” yourself positively – I find that it does miracles for me!
Remember that as with every magic object, it needs your constant attention – the more you go through it, the stronger your positive feelings become! Oh, and do not tell anyone about it, otherwise the magic disappears!
