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by Rick Baker
On May 29, 2012
If you have not read Chapter 1 or Chapter 2 then check out the chapters of 'A Book' at this link
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Having completed Chapter 2, you should have a picture in your mind that looks like this:
The picture shows how your feelings are described within a range while you are at work and it shows how you normally feel at work. Check your range to make sure it does not include your absolute best or worst feelings. The intent is to capture how you feel 90-plus% of the time...but not 100%. Stated another way, we want the range to include feelings that have a 90-plus% likelihood of being experienced in the future.
Now, consider the "Low" and "High" ends of the range and the "Norm". Test them for reasonableness.
Focus, one at a time, on the following 3 things:
- Where is your range situated on the Minus10-to-Plus10 Scale?
- How broad is your range?
- Where does your Norm sit within your range?
If you are comfortable with doing it then ask a trusted friend, co-worker or boss to check your range and Norm...do they agree with these 3 aspects of your self-assessment?
When this is done think about how satisfied you are with your Low, your Norm, and your High.
If you are truly satisfied then - terrific.
If your scores do not satisfy you then you have some options.
You could:
- Determine how to become satisfied with your Low, Norm, and High
- Determine how to raise at least one of your Low, Norm, or High
Those are the fundamental choices you should consider.
If you are like most people then you would like to enjoy work more. After all, you are spending a large amount of your waking hours at work...it makes sense to enjoy that time as much as you can. To accomplish that you can reduce the amount and extent of negative feelings or expand the amount and extent of positive feelings.
With your range of feelings established with 'Low' and 'High' points and your feelings 'Norm' established you have benchmarks to help you accomplish those objectives.
by Rick Baker
On May 22, 2012
link to Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Having completed Chapter 1, you 'got present' and you rated how you feel about your work-situation.
That's an important first step. You took a time out. You allowed your mind to step away from its busy day and you focused on your feelings about work. Consciously, or unconsciously, you weighed your work against other important aspects of your life including your health and your family. Consciously, or unconsciously, you also weighed your work-situation relative to your work-goals, your financial needs, and other needs and desires important to you.
These other important aspects will be dealt with later in this book. For the time being, it is important to concentrate solely on your feelings about your work-situation. In the last chapter, you rated your feelings. As you did that you determined the general nature of your feelings. You chose either Plus or Minus or, perhaps, you chose Ho-hum.
The next step is to consider the range of feelings you have experienced about your work-situation. Think about your workdays during the last year or two. During that period, if you are like most people, you have had terrific days, good days, ho-hum days, not-so-good days, and terrible days. Perhaps, you would rate a few of those days as Plus10 days or Minus10 days...think of those as extreme days.
For this second step...
The goal is - to define the range of the feelings you normally and regularly have about your work-situation. If you have only had a few extreme days during the last year or two then, for the time being, ignore them. If you have experienced extreme days on a frequent basis then include them.
Using the Minus10-to-Plus10 Scale...
What is the normal range of your feelings about your work-situation?
As you answer this question, test your thoughts. Take some time to think about how your 'getting present' rating from Chapter 1 fits within the range you just defined. Does the fit between the low end of your range, your getting-present rating, and the high end of your range make sense to you? Make sure the range accurately describes the feelings you regularly experience about your work-situation.
by Rick Baker
On May 18, 2012
Thought Tweet #480 We can alter our emotions, at least some of them. We can, for example, reduce the emotion of anger from high to low.
The Thinking Behind The Tweet
In his 1918 classic, 'The Greatest Thing In The World', Henry Drummond wrote, "Hence it is not enough to deal with Temper. We must go to the source, and change the inmost nature, and the angry humours will die away of themselves."
This is true. It is not easy to do, but it can be done. I know from first-hand experience. We can alter our emotional reactions, at least some of them. If anger is one of our natural emotions, and some of us do tend to be that way, we can take steps, over time, to reduce that natural emotion. We know we have reduced our anger-emotion when we no longer feel the chemicals like adrenalin flowing.
by Rick Baker
On May 15, 2012
Drop what you're doing and take a time out.
During your time out, think about how work fits into your life. Forget, for the moment, the past and how you got to where you are. And, set aside thoughts about the future. 'Get present' about your work-situation. Think about the role you do at work. Think about your work-tasks, your work-place, the people you provide service to, and other aspects of your work.
When you are sure you are focused on your present work, answer this question: "How do I feel about my present work-situation?"
Think about your feelings. Decide how to measure them. Be clear. And use a measuring tool so you can pinpoint exactly how you feel. The tool you use to measure your feelings must be simple, easy to understand, and easy to use.
The Minus10-to-Plus10 Scale meets those requirements.
Here's how it works.
When people use this scale to measure feelings, there are two extremes - one most-positive and the other most-negative. When answering the question "How do I feel about my present work-situation?":
- If you answer Plus10 then you are telling yourself your work-situation could not possibly be better. Every aspect of your work-situation is sheer bliss.
- If you answer Zero then you are telling yourself your work-situation is ho-hum. Your work contains no highlights. Nothing about your work is particularly good or particularly bad. Your workdays are uneventful.
- If you answer Minus10 then you are telling yourself your work-situation could not be worse. Every aspect of your work-situation is absolutely unbearable.
The Spectrum of Feelings
Sheer Bliss: Plus10
Enthusiasm Zone: Plus7 to Plus9
Enjoyment Zone: Plus4 to Plus7
Acceptance Zone: Plus1 to Plus4
Ho-hum: 0
Uncomfortable Zone: Minus1 to Minus4
Distress Zone: Minus4 to Minus7
Excruciation Zone: Minus7 to Minus9
Absolutely Unbearable: Minus10
These descriptions and the six zones provide context to allow you to pick the rating that best describes your feelings.
So...on a Minus10-to-Plus10 Scale...
"How do you feel about your present work-situation?"
...to be continued
by Rick Baker
On May 11, 2012
Thought Tweet #475 Emotions hit us automatically; emotions differ from thoughts that are linked to our senses and desires...those are feelings.
The Thinking Behind The Tweet
Emotions were ingrained into 'our heredity'...they are evolutionary, subconscious, calls-to-action. They happen without thought. Some argue, emotions happen despite thought and so emotions are of little or no value in the modern civilized world.
Feelings are felt-thoughts. Feelings are the interplay between thoughts and the 6 senses in the mind. Desires are the most-intense feelings. When feelings are sustained for longer periods, say over 24 hours, they are called moods.
Emotions and feelings both act as drivers of behaviour. They do this different ways...and that's a key to change management.
by Rick Baker
On May 8, 2012
Self-Control: the battlefields where logic is outnumbered by emotions and desires.
It seems most people face a life-long war over self-control.
The battles about Self-Control happen on 2 fronts:
- The Desires Front: where short-term 'pain' fights & struggles with long-term gain
- The Emotions Front: where Logic is alone, surrounded & ounumbered, and must face Emotions
The Desires Front
I am going to make this personal...I am going to talk about chocolate ice cream. I desire that. I desire it on scorching-hot summer days. And, I desire it on bitter-cold winter days. And, I desire it on many days in-between. I also desire healthy arteries and 36" belts. So, the battle lines get drawn. I can have and enjoy the chocolate ice cream today...or...I can have and enjoy good health in the future. Now, I know I could choose a compromise where I limit the amount of chocolate ice cream I eat; however, it is very hard for me to do that because I'm dealing with (1) chocolate and (2) ice cream. Self-control is the battlefield. Logic is surrounded by conflicting desires for and against chocolate ice cream.
The Emotions Front
One example: Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. I remember my parents teaching me that when I was a child. And, I believe I understood the underlying message. However, it took me a number of decades to be able to conquer my emotions to the point where I felt comfortable writing The Joys of Thick Skin & a Thin Skull. The logic is sound: there is no reason why criticism should cause injury or trigger negative emotions. Yet, for some people, likely for most people, it does. And, some people are born with, or develop at an early age, a natural tendency to experience the emotion of anger when they are criticized. I know that's the way I was. Self-control is the battlefield. Logic faces, its Goliath, Emotions.
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