The Very Best Thing To Do With a Good Mood
This past weekend I hit 146 miles per hour. Actually, it was my friend who was driving so he gets most of the credit, but I feel that my maniacal chanting of “GO! GO! GO!” from the passenger seat was a significant contributor to our speed accomplishment. When I got off the track at the Virginia International Raceway and got into my car to head home, I was positively euphoric. It was as if my brain required speeds over 110 mph to release every happy hormone it had. I knew I wouldn’t be coming down for a long time, so I did the smartest thing I could think of. I came home, made myself a nice meal, then sat down at my desk and wrote out the major, intractable problems I was facing in my life, and a detailed game plan to fix them.
Not what you would do with a good mood? Well, you should. Here’s why…
There’s a theory that I love called Broaden and Build, developed by Barbara Frederickson. I love this theory because it is incredibly actionable. It tells you exactly what good and bad emotions do and how to use them to accomplish your goals.
The broaden and build theory says that our mood states are like a funnel with the negative moods being at the narrow bottom, and the positive mood states being at the broad top part. The size of the funnel represents our perspective.
Negative moods narrow your perspective, making you hyper-focused on problems and less able to see or even be open to possible solutions. You can see a problem in incredible detail, you just can’t see much beyond the problem.
A positive mood, however, broadens your perspective. It’s like being stuck in a maze and then being lifted onto a platform that gives you a view of how to get out. You can’t see the problem in as much detail, but you can see the possibilities.
When you are at the low and narrow end of the funnel and experience something positive, it creates an upward spiral that, when supplemented with more positive experiences, gives you an even broader perspective, building your ability to take on challenges. You feel empowered, motivated, willing to take a risk, and open to help. What better time to tackle your big challenges?
This past year and a half has been incredibly difficult for most of us, and I’m no exception. Experiences of joy, delight, and euphoria have been harder to come by with so many life limitations due to COVID safety. But it also has caused me to pay more attention to the positive experiences when they do come along. Now, when I experience those lifts, I get to work. I take advantage and tackle the hard things at a time when I know they won’t be so hard. It’s how I put my happiness to work for me and create my own winning streak. The next time you’ve got that happy feeling, give it a shot.
Fredrickson, B. L. (2013). Positive emotions broaden and build. In E. Ashby Plant & P.G. Devine (Eds.), Advances on Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 1–53. Burlington: Academic Press.
