You may never have stopped to think about it, but by understanding and controlling your emotions you can dramatically improve your performance when it comes time to train. The reason? Emotions are so powerful that they can positively or negatively influence any aspect of your daily life.
Why does understanding and controlling emotions improve our performance?
By understanding and controlling emotions, we will be able to master the art of self-control, which will allow us to ward off negative emotions when they act as obstacles in our daily life. In addition, by controlling emotions we will also be able to put on our part those positive emotions that motivate us to do things better.
Mastering self-control will not only help us in the gym, but it can also improve our lives in the work, university or home environment. However, it must be clear that self-control does not refer to becoming a cold person incapable of feeling negative emotions, since it is impossible to remove these emotions forever, for which the reality is that self-control simply allows us to coexist healthily with these emotions .
Guide to Mastering Emotional Self-Control
By understanding and controlling emotions we will be very close to achieving emotional self-control, but it will not be enough . That is why it is necessary to follow the recommendations that we expose in this small self-control guide.
Identify emotions
The first step in mastering emotional self-control is learning to identify emotions . Only by identifying the emotion will we be able to accept it, since it is impossible to accept something that we do not know.
To be able to identify emotions we have to focus on the physical sensations that they generate in our body. When you identify the sensations that each emotion awakens in you, you will be able to know what emotions you are feeling, with which you will be able to accept them.
If you accept emotions, you will be able to transform those patterns that limit you, reduce stress and, in general, achieve a fuller and happier life.
Understanding and controlling emotions: verbalize what you feel
Some studies have suggested that using language to express what you feel can reduce the stress that emotions put on your brain. Some people channel their emotions in writing and others say them , but the essence remains the same.
The idea is that you calm down and take the time that is necessary to name the emotions that you have managed to identify. By doing this, you will be sending the brain the message that you are accepting that you feel those emotions, with which you can take an important weight off them. For example, if you have identified that you feel anger, it will be enough for you to verbalize “I feel anger”.
Let the emotions flow
Painful emotions are not eternal. As with physical ailments, there will come a time when the pain can no longer increase and will have to begin to decrease. For example, if you feel sore after an intense workout, you will likely feel severe pain the next day, but after that day the pain will be less, until it will eventually go away. The same thing happens with emotional pain.
It is important that you always be aware that pain is not eternal, as this way you will be able to let your emotions flow. If you accept the emotions, but don't let them flow, then they will get trapped within you.
This can be difficult to understand when the emotion is very great . However, if you want to achieve maximum self-control, you have to mentalize that there is no negative emotion that can affect you forever.
Separate emotions from reactions
You may accept an emotion and let it flow, but it still won't be enough to consider yourself a person with complete self-control. Even when you have successfully followed the previous steps, emotions are characterized by being strong stimuli that ask you to react in a certain way.
Learning to separate emotions from reactions is one of the most difficult parts of self-control , but also one of the most important. Certain emotions, such as anger, can be very destructive, prompting you to do things that you may regret when you regain your calm.
Emotions like sadness, on the other hand, may ask you to cry, something that is not necessarily negative. However, a person with true self-control knows that emotions do not need a reaction to heal, so if you want to fully control your emotions, you must be able to avoid any type of reaction that inspires you.
If you achieve this, you can have a very great mental clarity, which not all people have. You will be able to think objectively even in situations where you are experiencing strong emotions. This can be very beneficial when, for example, your emotions make you make up excuses for not going to the gym one day, but objectively you manage to convince yourself that it is better if you go.
Focus only on the positive
At this point the weight of emotions is considerably less. However, to master them it is also important to approach them from a positive perspective . This is because emotions have the power to make us question many things, causing us to ask ourselves many things that are not easy to answer.
If you are already calm, it can be positive to ask yourself questions related to the emotions you have felt. However, if you are not calm, asking yourself a lot of questions can cause you to lose your way and focus on the negative aspects. When this happens, your stress levels increase and you could turn a small negative emotion into a colossal problem that is difficult to eliminate.
Therefore, you have to avoid questioning yourself too much about your defeats and problems. Trying to reflect on what is wrong is only recommended when you are calm ; But if you're not, you should focus on feeling better.
Understanding and controlling emotions: look at their positive side
Emotions, both good and bad, have a function. Emotions make us human and leave us with all kinds of experiences and teachings . The option to consider emotions as neutral is always valid, but if you manage to see them in a positive way, you can always benefit from them.
It must be clear that seeing the positive side of emotions is the last thing you should do and only when you have managed to follow all the previous steps mentioned in this self-control guide. That is, you should only do it when you have managed to control the emotion almost completely.
The goal is to reflect on everything related to the emotion you are feeling. You must delve into the emotion, understand what it communicates to you and the possible lessons you can draw from it.
Reflecting on the origin of complex emotions will allow you to understand and control emotions in a way that very few people are capable of. In addition, when you get used to seeing emotions in a positive way, you are able to reach the highest level of self-control, because you will get used to receiving them with open arms whenever you experience them.
In conclusion, you will be able to accept emotions as a natural part of the human being , a beneficial part if you know how to take advantage of it.
References
- Info, M. (2020, October 15). Understanding and controlling emotions . MASmusculo STRONGsite – Get in shape! https://www.masmusculo.com.es/health/comprendiendo-y-controlando-las-emociones/
- D. (2019, May 27). How to control emotions and automatic thoughts . Dynamic Disclosure | Online courses and distance training. https://www.divulgaciondinamica.es/blog/controlar-emociones-pensamientos-automaticos/
