Using emotions

What is the big advantage in using your emotions? Emotionally intelligent people can capitalize fully upon their changing moods in order to best fit the task they have at hand. When you understand which mood is the best for a particular type of thinking, then you can get in the right mood to enhance your thinking and influence others' emotions and the environment around you. For instance, would it be better to complete a task at hand to be in a good mood or in a sad mood? It depends on what you need to complete the task at hand. If you need to look for a solution to a problem and think out of the box, a happy positive mood is the best one. But, if you need to be focused on details to spot errors, a sad mood is your best adviser. Moods are long-lasting effects of a first emotion that trigger in us secondary related emotions, repeatedly, without any clear external trigger. A mood is influenced by your environment (weather, lighting, color, or people around you), by your physiology (what you have been eating, how you have been exercising, if you have a cold or not, how well you slept), by your thinking (where you are focusing your attention), and by your current emotions. A mood can last for minutes, hours, or even days and they are more generalized. They are tied to a collection of inputs not to a specific incident. Ready to learn how different moods affect our thinking?

• A happy mood or a positive vibe are very helpful when you need to do the following:
  • Big picture thinking: A happy mood expands your thinking and allows you to think outside the box, because it stimulates creative and innovative thinking. This top-down method of thinking helps with your inductive reasoning.
  • Brainstorm: When brainstorming, you need to be energized so that you can be more creative in developing new ideas, generate new solutions, and make better decisions—which, in turn, motivates you and your team. The downside of thinking when in a positive or happy mood is that we tend to make more mistakes in problem-solving. Use it with care.
• A sad mood is very helpful when you need to do the following:
  • Stay focused and do detailed thinking: When we are sad or feeling negative we pay more attention, focus on details, and search for and spot more errors. Being in a slightly sad mood helps people conduct careful, methodical work. This bottom up method of thinking helps with your deductive reasoning.
• A fearful mood is very helpful when you need to do the following:
  • Be motivated: Fear is a survival mechanism that motivated our ancestors by signalling danger. When we are evaluating possible problems and considering worst-case scenarios, it helps to be in a bit of a fearful mood rather than in a happy mood.
• An angry mood is very helpful when you need to do the following:
  • Right a wrong: Someone lacking any skills in emotional intelligence will be immediately emotionally hijacked when feeling angry. However, for the emotionally intelligent person, anger helps focus on fixing the wrongdoing instead of losing your head.
• A guilty, shameful, or embarrassing mood is very helpful when you need to do the following:
  • Maintaining appropriate conduct: Shame and guilt make you apologize when you engage in bad behaviors, which helps you to keep on the right track. Shame and embarrassment help avoid fights since it is more difficult for someone to stay angry with you, if they are feeling shame or embarrassment.