Emotions at work. I swear, when I said that half of you cringed, either because of your own emotions or the emotions of people that you have had to deal with. And look, as someone who has been a coach and worked with 2 individuals to 20 individuals on conflict resolution, communication, productivity and mental health in the workplace...emotions are something that are either going to hinder or help a person or a situation. I am passionate about helping you make sure that your emotions, or the emotions of other people actually help the situation and not hinder it, so I am introducing Dr Kurt Nelson to you. He's an amazing guy, he works with behavioral science and helps companies and people improve with that. This is going to be a great episode where we dive into how we can leverage emotions, use that for more powerful connection and performance. So get your notebook and take notes! And as always guys, sending you peace in progress on your journey.

"Well I think one of the very first things that we have to take into consideration that we know implicitly but sometimes we just forget, is that humans are emotional creatures. We really come at things from an emotional perspective as opposed to a rational perspective, and in business we often overlook that." At minute 7:15, Dr. Kurt talks about how our emotions often drive us in the workplace and how we tend to overlook that, trying to rationalize without factoring our feelings to the situation.

"I think the mindset is really allowing that emotion to be there, recognizing it. And then, understanding do I act upon that emotion or do I not? Then it's taking a pause and allowing ourselves to catch ourselves. There's a lot of great work and you can talk about meditation or mindfulness, but it is a really good technique, or tip to understand to have us look at how our mind works. Mindfulness training is really looking at what are the thoughts that I'm having, and why are they there because our mind is always filled with thoughts and it's really hard. Our mind has to stop having those thoughts. " At 21:18, Dr. Kurt emphasizes the importance of connecting mindfulness and meditation to your emotions and how there is power in pausing to reflect on what you are both thinking and feeling in the moment.

"We cannot separate the emotion from the rational and we shouldn't go on either spectrum. I find that journaling is a really powerful way of being able to collect that data on your day. If you're very purposeful about identifying what happened today, how did I respond, how did I feel, then over the course of a week, a month, a year, you can look back and start tracking some of that. It's really powerful to see the trends and the patterns that you have, and we are habitual creatures by nature, we respond to triggers." At minute 39:26, Dr. Kurt encourages us to write our emotions down in a journal so we can identify patterns or triggers that cause us to feel a certain way.

Dr. Kurt Nelson shared a lot of valuable information about embracing our emotions at work. He also gave a lot of helpful tips for all of us, so make sure you stay tuned!

Don't forget to connect and follow Dr. Kurt Nelson through his website http://www.lanterngroup.com/, Twitter, Instagram, and on LinkedIn. Check out the Behavioral Grooves Podcast and the Weekly Grooves Podcast! And if you have any questions for Dr. Kurt, just send an email to kurt@lanterngroup.com. Go follow him now!

I hope you liked today's episode. Please don't forget to subscribe on all podcast platforms and while you're there, please don't forget to rate and review! I truly appreciate and love you, and can't wait to see you in the next episode!

Check out Anxiety at Work: A Guide for COVID-19 and Beyond

Download Virtual Teams During COVID-19: Mindsets + Values for High Performance Freebie

Watch my TEDx Talk on Leveraging Your Now to Get Your Best Next

P.S. Please don't forget to tag me on Instagram @theannaoakes and connect on LinkedIn to share your big takeaways and for more Build High Performing Teams updates. I'll see you there!

Peace & Progress,

Anna