Thank you so much for your interest in The Insight, by Sheba. I hope you enjoyed this week’s blogs about “Emotional Traits.”

Next week’s topic will be “Managing Emotions.”

Friday Review: Happy Reading!

1. Does Happiness Count?

• Our ability to overcome adversity and cultivate positive emotional traits despite life circumstances and set range is ultimately what determines our levels of enduring happiness. Don’t get discouraged if life throws a challenge your way. Rather, look for an encouraging and forward-thinking perspective. You are responsible for the amount of happiness in your personal formula. Experiment in you!

2. Attitude of Gratitude.

• Gratitude is not often associated with individual characteristics and emotional traits because it requires action. It is not something static or fixed into our emotions or identities. It’s not something we were born with; it is something we must practice daily and nurture to cultivate. In practicing gratitude we become grateful by making ourselves more aware of the many good fortunes we have and experience everyday. Improve yourself by adjusting your perspective to see the many things you have to be grateful for!

3. Do We Need Motives?

• It all comes down to knowing yourself. Know your interests, your limitations, your abilities, and your needs, then set your goals based on these things. You may experience set backs, but as long as you stay motivated and keep at it, you will never fail.

4. And Defining Self-Confidence

• Work at the image you project. Self-confidence exhibited by the attention to detail you display, how you treat people, present yourself, demonstrate body language and make choices. Appreciate and respect all the parts of your life that make you who you are today. You will be able to represent your best self confidently if you recognize and appreciate who that is.

The Insight— Emotions can be a bit of a sticky situation, but only if we let our emotions carry us away. Maintain self-awareness in every situation and never lose your cool. Keep in mind that difficult situations as well as easy ones are just temporary. If we let ourselves get carried away in the emotions we feel in those situations, the consequences can be damaging and permanent. Remember that everything is fixable. We are not the products of our circumstances; we are shaped instead by our responses to those situations and our ability to bounce back.

Have a wonderful weekend!

By Sheba

www.bySheba.com

Creating Positive Perspectives for Life

The Scenario – Wouldn’t life be so much easier if we received a “how-to guide” and had a couple tricks tucked up our sleeves at birth to help motivate us to accomplish our goals? Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that. The only trick is to build motivation into your emotional traits.

How can we more easily develop motivation?

Dr. Bill Knaus, Ed.D., co-author of Overcoming Procrastination, suggests twelve practices to maintain motivation and reach the goals you’ve set, however long ago. Here’s the catch: motivation takes preparation. Shape your goals around these tips:

1.       Meaning

• Set goals that are important to you.

2.       Perspective

• Prioritize your time based on the significance and immediacy of your goals.

3.       Commitment

• Measure the strength of your commitment to any goal. Ask yourself: Is it worth the pursuit? What am I willing or unwilling to sacrifice for it?

4.       Plan

• Plan for success. Foresee it in your future.

5.       Self-Efficacy

• Believe firmly in yourself and your ability to handle any task, small or large, necessary to accomplish your goal.

6.       Guard Yourself

• Don’t let the voice of failure and defeat deter you from reaching your goal. Recognize it and combat it immediately!

7.       Now or Never

• Don’t put things off until “later.” Accomplish tasks as soon as you are physically able.

8.       Reward

• Set-up incentives for each goal you accomplish.

9.       Blame Free

• Don’t waste time blaming yourself for failures and setbacks. Instead, move forward and do better the next time around.

10.   Expect Discomfort

• Uncomfortable situations will arise on your way to progress. Prepare yourself for these situations so that you are not stunted or setback by them.

11.   Know Your Limits

• Dream big, but be realistic when setting your goals. Take small steps one at a time towards your dream.

12.  Engage Community

• Tell people about your goal. Find an accountability partner to help keep you on track and measure your progress.

(Read More)

The Insight – It all comes down to knowing yourself. Know your interests, your limitations, your abilities, and your needs, then set your goals based on these things. You may experience set backs, but as long as you stay motivated and keep at it, you will never fail.

What tricks are you hiding up your sleeve?

By Sheba

www.bySheba.com

Creating Positive Perspectives for Life

The Scenario – You’ve heard it a million times, “be thankful.” Great! What is the big deal about being grateful everyday?

Can gratitude improve outlook and well-being?

A study conducted by Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D., and Michael E. McCullough, Ph.D., on the effects of gratitude, particularly in relationships, found that practicing gratitude daily correlates to improvements in attitude and overall well-being. Those who practiced gratitude daily experienced improvements in:

1.       Affect

• Increases in positive affect and decreases in negative affect

2.       Sleep

• Better quality sleep in longer increments of time

3.       Life satisfaction

• Greater satisfaction with well-being and life as a whole

4.       Expectations

• Greater optimism and expectations of their relationships in the weeks to come

5.       Physical activity

• Devoted more time to maintaining physical fitness

(Read More)

The Insight – Gratitude is not often associated with individual characteristics and emotional traits because it requires action. It is not something static or fixed into our emotions or identities. It’s not something we were born with; it is something we must practice daily and nurture to cultivate. In practicing gratitude we become grateful by making ourselves more  aware of the many good fortunes we have and experience everyday. Improve yourself by adjusting your perspective to see the many things you have to be grateful for!

How do you become grateful?

By Sheba

www.bySheba.com

Creating Positive Perspectives for Life

The Scenario – We often think of happiness as an emotion influenced by circumstance and fortune, but can we possess happiness as an emotional trait?

What factors determine personal happiness?

Martin E. P. Seligman, Ph.D., author of Authentic Happiness, proposes a formula comprised of three factors that determines personal levels of happiness.

 H= S+C+V

 1.     H= Enduring Levels of Happiness

• The formula specifically measures happiness that lasts as opposed to temporary positive emotions.

2.     S= Set Range

• Genetically predetermined level of happiness we tend toward.

3.     C= Life Circumstances

• Present situation and past experiences.

4.     V= Voluntary Control

• Sense of control within life circumstances.

The Insight – Our ability to overcome adversity and cultivate positive emotional traits despite life circumstances and set range is ultimately what determines our levels of enduring happiness. Don’t get discouraged if life throws a challenge your way. Rather, look for an encouraging and forward-thinking perspective. You are responsible for the amount of happiness in your personal formula. Experiment in you!

What are the ingredients in your happiness experiment?

By Sheba

www.bySheba.com

Creating Positive Perspectives for Life