Managing emotions during career change and job search, part one
How can you manage your emotions during your career change or job search? To answer this practical and wise question, let’s first define what emotions are. Emotions, also commonly known as feelings, are energy released in your body in response to perceived events, that is, data received through your five senses.
To develop your skill in managing your emotions during your current or upcoming career transition:
1.) Practice naming your emotions. There is great power in simply naming your emotions as you experience them. Check in with yourself several times a day and name your emotions in a journal or log. Learn to identify the nuances of difference between emotions that are similar. Choose carefully how you name what you feel: the choice of words creates reality!
two.) Allow yourself to feel what you feel. Resisting emotions keeps you trapped in them. Why not do something radical like feel them? Let the emotion wash over you and it will flow through you infinitely more smoothly. Feeling your feelings is always easier than resisting them, because emotions grow in proportion to our resistance to them.
3.) Express what you feel. Unexpressed emotions are like poison trapped in the body. You really don’t want to do that to yourself, do you? Let them out! The key here is safety and suitability. Find ways to express your emotions that are safe and mature for you and those around you.
4.) Act on your emotions. Once again, safety and suitability are key. Emotions are messengers from your inner reality that prompt you to take some action. Find out what each emotion wants you to do, and then do it safely. Don’t delay, or your emotions will get the better of you.
5.) Trunk. Diary of thoughts, emotions, dreams and dialogues. Write letters you won’t send. Dig out your guts to find the truth within.
6.) Exercise. Physical activity is a great stress reducer and a sure way to channel your emotions into action. Whether it’s walking or swimming, biking or running, aerobics or building muscle, it will help you constructively channel your stress into a healthy mind and body. Start slow; be consistent!
7.) Talk to someone safe. Call a friend or family member; find a counselor; try a spiritual coach or director; meet with a priest, pastor, or rabbi… but call someone! You don’t have to carry your burdens alone unless you choose…and why would you choose to?
8.) Use art to express yourself. Paint your panic. Draw your dreams. Write poetry to express the inexpressible within you. Both verbal and non-verbal art forms can help you release what shouldn’t be trapped inside of you.
9.) Use music to match your mood. You can use music to match your mood to express it, or you can use music to alter your mood when it’s critical to do so. So if you’re down and need a lift, try some rock or Latin music. If you’re hyperactive and need to calm down and focus, try baroque, New Age, or smooth jazz selections. Music can be a particularly powerful way to help you wind down to sleep or speed up your day.
10.) Pray or meditate through your feelings. Both prayer and meditation are powerful ways to feel and express your emotions. Practice one or the other or both daily.