Following on from my previous blog about using ancient philosophers to help us manage our emotions, I have also learnt much from Seneca, whose full name was Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger. Although slightly less famous than Marcus Aurelius, Seneca imparts much wisdom on the management of emotions—especially anger. One of his most famous essays is On Anger , in which Seneca argues that anger is a destructive and irrational emotion that harms both the individual experiencing

Since completing my book, I have become very curious about the effects of logic on emotional management, and how we can use our frontal lobes—our logical thinking—to override emotions generated by subcortical brain regions such as the amygdala. I find it fascinating that the Stoic philosophers recognised and grappled with this same issue more than 2,000 years ago. One of the most famous Stoic philosophers, Marcus Aurelius, wrote Meditations , a book that continues to be a bes

Thank you for walking through the chapters of my book during the last few months. I have enjoyed sharing the techniques with you and hope that some of the insights have helped you become more objective in managing your emotions. I am a great believer in metaphors helping us understand and connect concepts on a subconscious level; after all, a picture in your mind’s eye has the potential to speak a thousand words to your soul. So, using the metaphor of the Balcony and the Danc

Anger is a tricky emotion because it involves our values and, typically, our explanations of what we see as right and wrong. It is difficult to shift because it represents a threat to our core – namely, our beliefs and values. In her book Change Your Thinking  (Edelman, S. (2013). Change Your Thinking , 3rd Ed. Sydney: ABC Books), Sarah Edelman explains that “anger is our response to the perception that something is bad or unfair” and that it involves a threat that makes us f

Now that you have become an expert in curbing your anxiety, let’s have a closer look at what you can do when you feel sad. When we become...

The techniques in the previous blogs were intended to help you manage most emotions and explore unhelpful explanations more closely. But...

It always baffles me that some people cope better with adversities than others do. Even if you are aware of PERMA and are applying the...

If we understand what emotional well-being consists of, it will be easier for us to enrich our lives with the right elements to help us...

In my last blog I told you about a growth mindset. Now let us look at what needs to be present in your life to fuel this type of mindset:...

Your thoughts and emotions are also influenced by your personality. Understanding yourself will help you know why you hold certain values...