Mastering Emotional Potential

My favorite class in graduate school was a subject called continuum mechanics. It was an incredibly challenging and mind expanding class that changed the way that I approached everything I did in my world. The most important thing I learned were the five basic Energy Transfer Laws in the universe and the five exceptions, or Jump Conditions.

The first principle or law was called Potential. For example, wind flows from areas of high pressure to low pressure. Water flows from areas of high elevation to low elevation; heat flows from areas of high temperature to low temperature; etc.

I realized there is a similar pattern governing human emotions. Specifically, our emotions also flow between two very predictable and recognizable potentials.

I became fascinated with potential, because I realized it controlled everything in our world. More specifically, it controls how everything moves in our world.

The two potentials that govern an emotional situation are 1) the assessment of reality and 2)the expectation of the outcome of that situation. The difference between these two at any point in time will govern the emotion that you feel and its intensity. For example, it is likely that you will feel a significant amount of anger if you come home from work one day expecting to find your child doing his or her homework and instead discover that your dog has destroyed all of your living room furniture. Your expectation was to find an orderly home with your child working quietly, and your assessment of reality is a ruined living room.

Business Coaching can help The wider the gap between your expectation and the assessment of your reality, the more intense the emotion will be. Try this out for yourself for Anger, Pleasure, Frustration, Surprise, and a host of other emotions.

Recognize that if you wish to neutralize any emotion regarding a topic, pay attention to your assessment of reality or the expectation that you have in a situation. Drop one or the other, and the circuit will be broken.

How can we use this knowledge to our benefit? Have you done this in your life or work?