Answer the following question: What is my chosen emotion that I want to improve and what is my SMART goal related to developing the chosen emotion?
Just like any other person, I’m a complex creature and can experience combinations of emotions most of the time. As soon as I am already an adult and I know the rules of the society I live in, my actions often do not match the emotions I feel, which later causes frustration and a blue mood. The emotion that I want to improve is my anger. I can become extremely mad in one second, but as soon as I understand, that this is not the proper way to react, I control myself and do not overreact. I can even continue speaking calmly and quietly, but my head starts pulsating and my face turns red in a split second. It is extremely uncomfortable physically and can cause a serious headache for the rest of the day if you do not remove the reason for this emotion quickly.
According to the Performance Review and Planning (n.d.), which was a part of this week’s reading assignment, SMART is the abbreviation standing for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-framed goals. Let’s think about how I can use this framework to develop this negative emotion of mine.
Specific: I want to be able to control my facial expressions when being irritated and to stop being so short-tempered.
Measurable: Always, when something annoying happens, I want to stay calm not only from the outside but also inside.
Attainable: Many people succeeded in controlling their tempers. There are several techniques to do so.
Relevant: This goal is reachable in 4-6 months if I keep doing positive exercises, write a mood journal to track my emotions, and reach out to my friends and family.
Time-framed: As I mentioned before, this goal is reachable in 4-6 months, but in fact, there is no deadline. Psychological changes do not come too fast, and everything should go at the right pace.
In fact, I already did a great job improving this emotion. In the past, my voice would also change, and I could say something wrong without any control. However, there is still much to do, and I hope to succeed in this just like many others have already done.
It is okay to feel angry, and it is a healthy emotion. However, a short temper is something that should be controlled. To do so, there are several positive exercises to practice. For example, I can focus on deep breathing to calm down, concentrate on positive things, spend some time in nature, relax, and try meditation. A mood journal can help me recognize how frequently I experience this emotion and analyze what exactly triggers me and what I think about when this happens. Such exercise can help me to understand my emotions better and learn how to improve them.
To sum up, anger is a very powerful emotion, but people can manage it. I don’t need to eliminate it but I can learn how to control it and not let it affect my well-being.
References
Performance Review and Planning. (n.d.). How to write SMART goals. http://www.brocku.ca/webfm_send/1394