Emotions Have Been My Enemy

Emotions have been my enemy. Emotions have stymied my momentum. Emotions have stopped me cold. There are things I’ve wanted to do, goals I’ve wanted to achieve, stuff I’ve wanted to get done but did not do so because a bad mood struck and I gave in to the bad mood.

My battle: if I don’t feel like doing something, I don’t do it.

Emotions color my perception. I summarize life based on my emotions of the moment.

If I feel enthusiastic: life is great!
If I feel depressed: life sucks.
If I feel discouraged, I’ll say “What’s the use of trying, I give up…”

And then I give up. I skip it. —hey, I’ll loose weight tomorrow, it’s donuts for today. We’ll see how we feel tomorrow…

Emotions have been my enemy.

How about you? Have you been a victim of your emotions?

If Emotions rule your life, you’ll be frustrated.

Here’s what I’m learning: I do not have to be a slave to my emotions.

I can overcome emotions with small daily action steps. You can, too.

Set a goal, then plot small simple daily action steps-small enough to do every day whether you feel like it or not.

You will reap results. And ironically: those results will feel good.

Personal story: when I decided to explore Christianity, I wanted to know more about God. If possible, I wanted to relate with God. A wise man told me the most effective way to do this was to spend time with God every day in Bible study and prayer.

Knowing my propensity for emotions derailing plans, he set me up for success with an embarrassingly simple schedule: 10 minutes a day studying scripture, and 10 minutes a day writing prayers in a private journal.

I cannot tell you how many mornings I did not feel like studying scriptures or journalling prayer—but I knew I could do it for 10 minutes, so I set the timer, read & prayed, alarms went off, tasks completed, and I felt good!

For the past umpteen years, I’ve written a 300-plus page book a year—my prayer journal— by writing 10 minutes a day.

Small steps over time covers huge ground.

Do your emotions interfere with getting things done?

1. Set your goals
2. Break your goal into small, daily steps—something you KNOW you can get done today, steps so small it embarrasses you.
3. Do your simple action step every day.

And when do you miss a day —because sooner or later you will—acknowledge it and move on.

Do you want to have a great year?

Your great year consists of 12 great months.
Your great month consists of 4 great weeks.
Your great week consists of 6 great days (and a day to rest)

To have a great year, make today a great day.

Set yourself up for success by taking one small step today. THIS one thing I will do today! Over time, you’ll feel good about it, and even your old enemy emotion will become a friend. …then will try to take credit for your good success. Some friend, right?