We know what other profession we all should learn – an elevator operator. No, not to earn money in retirement – now it is especially far away 🙂 To feel happier.
The elevator that we will learn to operate with the help of the book of the same name is the mood elevator. Every day he takes us from floor to floor: from despondency to joy and back. The Mood Lift concept was developed by Larry Senn (Ph.D. and father of five) and has already helped millions of people in 40 countries. Larry reveals how to spend more time in the emotional penthouse and less time in the basement. Let’s find out too.
Where is his button?
When the mood lift brings us to the upper floors, we are confident, resourceful, calm. We feel joy, everything works out for us. On the lower floors, on the contrary: we worry, get annoyed, get angry, things fall out of our hands, and relationships do not stick together. At times like these, we are rarely happy.
The movement of the elevator is influenced by events, the words of others, but more often – our thoughts. They remembered something bad, imagined that they were going to have a difficult day at work, and now the mood collapsed. The good news is that we can control these trips.
Our thoughts are buttons that send us to one floor or another. The book will tell you where and how to click.
Integrated brake system
The mood lift has a brake system that catches us before we fall too low. It turns on at the “curious” level. Here’s how it works.
If something happens that upsets you, you think, “My day is ruined!” Emotions pull down. But you can slow it down by changing your thought to, “I wonder why this happened?” At this moment, you will feel the energy rush upwards.
Bet on curiosity. Ask: “How can I turn this situation into something pleasant?”
Quick button
Our elevator also has a quick button that sends you to the very top – this is gratitude. Agree, it is impossible to be grateful and at the same time embittered or condemning. Companions of gratitude are peace, warmth, happiness and… health.
Surprising fact: when people who have had an organ transplant experience appreciation for donors, they recover faster. For everyone else, grateful thoughts strengthen the immune system and lower blood pressure. A good reason to say “thank you” once again.
Have a dinner today called “What I appreciate about you” and tell your family what you are grateful for.
On the lower floors
Life is so arranged that the elevator will still go down. Being sometimes in a bad mood is natural and even useful: our emotions tell us what to pay attention to. Rising anger signals that you are boiling over. A feeling of apathy indicates that the energy level is reduced. Worry warns that you have gone astray.
Do not try to always be “on the positive”, ignoring real feelings. Learn to decipher the signals before they lead to an accident.
What else
The effect of staying on the upper floors is cumulative: the more time we spend there, the better life is. Thoughts become clearer, choices smarter, relationships stronger.
Let’s not waste time – start saving right now.
Reading a book will take you up a couple of floors. And you will also learn:
- What to do if the mood is at zero
- How to Improve Mental Grip
- Why do you need the “use it or forget it” principle
- When to start from scratch
- What is soft preference
- How to feed pleasant thoughts
- What is the formula for well-being
… 199 кнопокpages to help you manage your mood lift.
Happiness is not the absence of problems. It’s the ability to deal with them. As children, we already knew how. Without difficulty they flew up to the floors of joy and hardly lingered on the floors of fatigue. Let’s take back what is in us from birth.
Mood lift: heading to the emotional penthouse
Just imagine how life could change if you were always in a good mood. If only the mood elevator – the one that takes you from despair to happiness and back – stopped more often on the upper floors and did not linger on the lower ones.
There are many techniques in the Mood Elevator book that can help you forget about the emotional “basement” and firmly settle in the “penthouse” – where optimism, wisdom and gratitude live. We chose a few tips from the book that will help you climb to the very top.
Learn to Read Your Dashboard
The automotive industry is dominated by electronics. The dashboard of cars displays everything from engine failure to tire pressure. The mood lift is also a kind of dashboard. The mood you are in can tell you what is going on in your soul.
Like the red light flashing on your car’s dashboard when your engine is overheating, rising anger signals that you’re boiling over. Like a fuel gauge that reminds you to fill up, a feeling of lethargy and depression indicates that your energy levels are low. As your GPS system starts to protest when you take a wrong turn, worry is a warning that you’ve gone astray.
If you learn to notice your mood swings – especially as the elevator goes down – the warning system will suggest corrective actions. Thanks to this, you will be in a good mood more often.
Don’t fall for the unhealthy norm
Remember the creepy story about the frog in boiling water? If you put an amphibian in hot water, it will jump out. But if you put the frog in a pot of cold water and start heating it slowly, it will not notice the change in temperature and will cook.
People often adapt to unhealthy environmental conditions, like this unfortunate frog.
When something annoys or tires us, at some point we get used to it so much that we stop noticing it. Impatience, depression and pessimism become the norm. Often we don’t even realize how used we are until something out of the ordinary happens, like a chance encounter with an old friend who remarks, “Hey, what’s been eating you? I don’t remember you ever having such an angry expression on your face!”
In order not to become a hostage to an unhealthy norm, you must constantly listen to your feelings, reading the indicators of the “dashboard” and reacting to them. Do not ignore external clues. If your family says that you are too pessimistic, often angry or sad, your elevator may be stuck on the lower floors. It’s time to take control.
Be Curious
Living each day in an interesting way, showing curiosity about the world around you, is one way to avoid falling into the “shaft” of the elevator. Here’s how it works.
If something happens that puts you at risk of being on the lower floors – for example, someone does or says something unpleasant. You think: “What nonsense! He just ruined my day! He must be just trying to piss me off!” And at that moment you feel that your emotions are pulling the mood lift down.
At this point, you can be curious. Think: “I wonder why he did that? There is something unusual and surprising in his behavior. I wonder what made him do that.”
You have a choice: get angry, frustrated, defensive, or use your energy to learn from the situation and solve the problem creatively. To do this, you need to turn on curiosity. Of course, the result can be anything, but you will definitely be half a head taller than the interlocutor if you show interest.
Don’t criticize
Many people tend to respond to something new by quickly “pressing the button” and going down to the floor called “caustic/judgmental”. There are many reasons why being critical can be attractive. Critics do not need to make an effort to understand what seems unfamiliar. They immediately define a new thing in an already familiar category based on simplified standards, which, of course, greatly simplifies the task.
When you’re critical, you enjoy the pleasant feeling of being “right” while believing everyone else is “wrong.” But do not forget that this prevents us from finding new ideas, leads to misunderstandings and even conflicts, and therefore brings more pain than pleasure. Try not to succumb to a critical attitude and look at everything new and unfamiliar more positively.
Break the pattern
We often fall into the trap of negative thoughts. For example, you learned that the boss is thinking of sending you on a not-too-pleasant business trip. There is no exact information yet, but the brain has already begun to paint terrible pictures: you have to cancel going to the cinema with friends, spend the night on the road, then prepare a boring report … A stream of negative thoughts pulls the mood elevator down, although nothing has happened yet. To stop it, you need to break the pattern.
How? There are many ways. You can think of something good. A great pattern break available to everyone is 8 hours of sleep. Another way is doing sports or creativity: they cause a surge of energy and improve mood. Deep breathing or simple concentration on inhalation and exhalation can help.
Either way, the first step to breaking a pattern is to notice that you’ve hit it.
As soon as thoughts begin to spin in a negative funnel, tell yourself: “You’re starting again!”, and do something that will break the pattern.
Don’t get upset over trifles
Life doesn’t always turn out the way we expect. In such circumstances, some get irritated very quickly, while others do not pay any attention to it. What separates those who don’t worry about trifles from those who get irritated—and even angry—almost every day?
People who get upset faster because of external circumstances need everything to be the way they want. They have their own ideas about how others should behave: they are captive to “principles”, as they themselves call them, and are reluctant to compromise.
It may seem that such behavior is commendable. Is it bad to set high standards and be guided by them in life? Yes, because blind adherence to principles can lead to intolerance, irritability and bitterness.
If we could do everything the way we want, every day would be perfect, the sky above our heads is clear, work is not overshadowed by any worries, family life is impossibly happy. But that doesn’t happen. When circumstances do not correspond to our desires and ideas, there is no point in getting annoyed and angry. You can just wait until the negative emotions subside, like suddenly appearing clouds in the blue sky.
Take your thoughts lightly
When your mood lift is on the lower floors, it is very easy to slip into depressive thoughts: in such moments, thinking is the least reliable. It’s a paradox, but that’s when we take thoughts especially seriously. The ability to take them lightly – to doubt and be open to mutually exclusive ideas – can seriously change the quality of life.
Letting go of negative thoughts and associated moods is not easy. When you feel impatience, irritation, anxiety, or are ready to condemn everyone in a row, do not immediately show it to others. Pause and try to observe your feelings so that you can react correctly, and not on autopilot. Then make a conscious decision: is this situation significant enough for you to generate a strong response? Or is it just “little things in life” that will soon pass? Believe me, the vast majority of cases fall into the second category.
Think of a higher purpose
A lofty goal is something that transcends our daily worries and has an impact on the world around us. When you feel anxiety, fear, insecurity, and hostility, try to reflect on those around you and their needs. This often causes the mood elevator to rise to where the way of thinking changes for the better.
Here are some examples of high purpose.
– Listen to a friend who needs support and offer help without criticizing or judging them.
Donate time or money to a worthwhile project.
– Make a vow to yourself that you will live a rich spiritual life and confess new principles, including them in the experience of every day.
– Start coaching a children’s sports team or take charge of a teenage group.
Become an attentive parent – take care and instill positive values in your child.
– Volunteer at a local charity kitchen, a homeless fund, a hotline.
When we forget about ourselves for a while and do something good for others, mood rises and self-esteem improves.
Being on the upper floors most of the time, we become more collected and creative, think more positively – and as a result, we care even more about the world in which we live. This is a great formula for strengthening your own personality.