Moods have an important influence on how we handle the world around us. We all have external trigger points that can alter our moods. But did you know you can control your own mood? On today’s episode of Insights Into Teens we’re going to take a look at the importance of our moods and how we can choose what mood we want to experience.
Show Notes
INTRO THEME]
[INTRODUCTIONS]
Insights Into Teens: Episode 166 “Choosing Your Mood”
My intelligent and contemplative co-host Madison Whalen
Summary
Moods have an important influence on how we handle the world around us. We all have external trigger points that can alter our moods. But did you know you can control your own mood? On today’s episode of Insights Into Teens we’re going to take a look at the importance of our moods and how we can chose what mood we want to experience.
But before we get to that I’d like to invite our listening and viewing audience to subscribe to the podcast.
Show Plugs
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[TRANSITION]
[SEGMENT 1]
Have you ever been in a bad mood that you just can’t shake?
Or had a pile of homework but realized you’re not in the mood to get it done?
Sometimes we feel at the mercy of our moods — but moods aren’t things that just happen to us.
We can influence and change them.
Being able to choose the mood that’s best suited to a situation is one of the skills of emotional intelligence.
Choosing the right mood can help you control whatever situation you’re in.
Moods versus Mindsets
Moods can influence how well we do in certain situations, but so can something else: our mindset.
What’s the difference between a mood and a mindset?
Moods are the emotions we feel.
A mindset is the thoughts and ideas that go along with that mood.
Mood and mindset go hand in hand because our thoughts can influence our mood.
Here’s an example:
Imagine you’re competing in a swim meet this afternoon.
Which mood and mindset helps you do your best?
Mood A: Insecure.
You keep thinking about how the competition might blow you out of the water and maybe you’re not good enough to be on the team.
Mood B: Annoyed.
You’re thinking about how swimming interferes with your social life.
Mood C: Pumped up and confident.
You’re thinking that if you do your best, there’s a good chance your team can place well.
Of course, you’re likely to do your best with the mood and mindset in option C.
But what if you’re feeling A or B and worry that those moods might affect your performance?
Luckily, you can change your mood.
[AD1: SSE]
[SEGMENT 2]
How to Choose a Mood
Step 1: Identify your mood.
To switch moods, you need to check in with what you’re currently thinking and feeling.
That way you can decide if you need to change your mood to one that’s more suited to your situation — or if you’re in the best mood to begin with.
To identify a mood, stop and think about what you’re feeling and why.
Put those feelings into words, like,
“Wow, I’m really sad right now”
or
“I’m feeling really alone.”
You can say this silently to yourself, out loud, or to someone else.
Step 2: Accept what you feel.
After you name your emotion, show yourself some understanding for feeling the way you do.
It’s perfectly OK (and natural!) to feel bored on a rainy Saturday or annoyed about having to study when everyone else is going out.
All emotions are acceptable and understandable.
But you don’t have to hold on to feeling that way.
Notice your mood, then choose to move past it.
Step 3: Identify the mood that’s best for the situation you’re in.
If you’re competing in a swim meet, it’s best to be pumped up and confident.
If you need to get down to some serious studying, it’s better to feel interested, alert, and confident (and not so helpful to feel grumpy, annoyed, and self-defeated).
Take a minute to think about which emotions will help you accomplish your goal.
How to Get Into the Best Mood
After you imagine the mood that’s best suited for your task or situation, it’s time to get into that mood.
Think “P for positive” and focus on these 6 things that can help you reset your mood:
Purpose.
Get clear on what you want and need to do.
For example, you might want to get your studying done as fast and well as possible so you can go to a party later.
Place.
Put yourself in the right situation — environment influences mood.
If you need to study, it’s better to find a table or desk in a quiet room than to go to the coffee shop where you might see friends who distract you.
People.
Who can help you feel the way you need to feel?
A focused classmate is a better study companion than a chatty friend.
Sometimes, just thinking of a particular person is enough to help you feel confident, inspired, strong, or supported.
Playlist.
Music is one of the most powerful influences on mood because it’s all about communicating and inspiring emotion.
Create playlists for the moods that are the most helpful and positive for your life.
Posture.
Move your body into the right mood.
For studying, try exercises that help you focus on your physical posture like yoga or t’ai chi.
For energy, try a workout that gets your heart rate up.
To prepare for sleep, try deep breathing, gentle stretching, or other soothing activities.
Promotion.
Encourage yourself with self-talk.
Self-talk is a way of using thoughts to influence your mood.
If you’ve ever said to yourself,
“OK, let’s get serious for a minute”
or
“I can do this!”
You’ve used self-talk to get into the right mood for a situation.
Self-talk doesn’t just create the mindset that supports your mood, it also helps you keep a mood going.
That’s why pep talks work so well for athletes.
[AD2: ENTERTAINMENT]
[SEGMENT 3]
How to Get Out of an Unhelpful Mood
To get out of a mood that’s unpleasant or unhelpful, think “U for U-turn.”
Try these mood changers:
Undo.
Do something to break the train of thought that keeps your old mood going.
Distract yourself with a game of Sudoku or simply focus on what’s going on outside your window for a few minutes.
Distractions are like rebooting your mind — they create a space between moods.
Unstick.
Change your body posture.
If you’re sitting, stand up.
Do some jumping jacks.
Stretch.
Walk around the room.
Moving your body changes your mindset and mood.
Unwind.
Sit quietly, breathe gently, and focus on each breath.
To keep your mind from wandering back to a mood you’re trying to change, every time you take a breath, say to yourself:
“I’m breathing in”
and
“I’m breathing out.”
Focus on feeling calm.
You’ve probably chosen your mood before without even realizing it — many times people choose a mood naturally without thinking about it.
But practicing ways to choose your mood intentionally can help you get good at it.
So next time you feel a strong mood, stop and name it.
Ask yourself if it’s the ideal mood for what you’re trying to accomplish.
Sometimes, even the happiest of moods might not be right for a particular situation (as anyone who’s excited about weekend plans during Friday afternoon classes knows).
[TRANSITION]
[CLOSE]
Closing thoughts shoutouts
[OUTRO AND CREDITS]
Show Plugs
Subscriptions:
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Google Podcasts
Stitcher
iHeartRadio
Tunein
Contact Info
Email us at:
Comments@insightsintothings.com
Twitter:
@insights_things
Hi-res videos on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/insightsintothings
Streaming 5 days a week on Twitch:
http://www.twitch.tv/insightsintothings
Audio Versions:
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Links to all these on the web Web:
https://www.insightsintothings.com
Transcription
00:00:01:23 – 00:00:41:16
Michelle
Insightful podcasts by informative host insights into Things, a podcast network. Welcome to Insights into Teens, a podcast series exploring the issues and challenges of today’s youth. Your hosts are Joseph and Madison Whalen, a father and daughter team making their way through the challenges of.
00:00:41:16 – 00:00:50:25
Madison
The teenage years.
00:00:51:24 – 00:01:07:01
Joseph
Welcome to Insights into Teens. This is episode 166 Choosing Your Mood with your host, Joseph Whalen, and my intelligent and contemplative co-host Madison Wayland.
00:01:07:06 – 00:01:09:24
Madison
Okay, those may actually make more sense this time.
00:01:10:06 – 00:01:11:02
Joseph
I’m trying to get better.
00:01:11:05 – 00:01:12:13
Madison
All right. Hi, everyone.
00:01:12:20 – 00:01:13:18
Joseph
How are you doing, Maddie?
00:01:15:09 – 00:01:16:15
Madison
Fine for the moment.
00:01:17:05 – 00:01:21:22
Joseph
That scene when you see that is really not instilling confidence in anybody.
00:01:21:23 – 00:01:24:00
Madison
I know, but I’m good right now.
00:01:24:00 – 00:01:46:16
Joseph
You’re good right now. Okay, well, we’re not going to go. We’re not going to push too hard on them. Anything exciting this week? We skipped last week, by the way, because I know I don’t know how, but I want of hurting a rib last week and just could not see that the computer for any length of time. So we had to skip last week’s broadcast so I could recuperate.
00:01:46:16 – 00:01:50:25
Joseph
And I’m doing better now, so 100%. But we’re getting there. Sorry.
00:01:51:09 – 00:01:51:25
Madison
You’re fine.
00:01:51:28 – 00:01:55:12
Joseph
Didn’t mean to preempt you there. So anyway, any exciting this week?
00:01:56:24 – 00:01:58:21
Madison
The end of the marking period coming up.
00:01:58:21 – 00:02:00:05
Joseph
So that’s exciting.
00:02:00:09 – 00:02:02:25
Madison
You know, ton of work going on.
00:02:03:01 – 00:02:21:05
Joseph
Yeah. That also means report cards and. And that it means lots of money that Daddy has to pay out. Awesome. Well, I guess that’s the. The downfall of having an intelligent child who gets A’s. Mm hmm. But that’s not what we’re talking about today.
00:02:21:06 – 00:02:21:16
Madison
No.
00:02:22:05 – 00:02:48:10
Joseph
Today we’re talking about moods. Moods have an important influence on how we handle the world around us. We all have external trigger points that can alter our moods. But then, you know, you can control your own mood. Well, today’s episode of Insights into Teens. We’re going to take a look at the importance of our moods and how we can choose what we want to experience.
00:02:49:01 – 00:03:20:12
Joseph
But before we do that, though, I do want to line please. I do want to invite our listening audience and viewing audience to subscribe to the podcast. If you don’t already do so, you can find audio versions of this podcast listed as Insights into Teens. You can find video versions of this and all of the network’s podcasts listed as insights in the things we can be found at Apple Podcasts.
00:03:20:17 – 00:03:51:10
Joseph
Stitcher. Tune in anywhere you get a podcast these days. I would also invite you to write in. Give us your feedback. Tell us how we’re doing. Give us your suggestions on what you’d like us to talk about. You can email us at comments and insights into things that come. You can find us on Twitter at Insights underscore things, or you can find links to all that and more on our official website at WW w dot insights into things dot com.
00:03:51:15 – 00:03:55:10
Joseph
Shall we. Yes here we go.
00:03:59:24 – 00:04:20:24
Joseph
So we’ve once again dug deep into the will of kids health board resources for this week’s topic. Have you ever been in a bad mood that you just can’t shake or had a pile of homework but realize you’re not in the mood to get it done? Sometimes we feel the mercy of our moods, but moods aren’t things that just happen to us.
00:04:21:15 – 00:04:40:11
Joseph
We can influence and even change them. Being able to choose the mood that’s best suited to a situation is one of the skills of emotional intelligence, which we’ve been talking about in this recent series of podcasts. Choosing the right mood can help you control whatever situation you’re in.
00:04:41:12 – 00:05:06:20
Madison
Moods versus mindsets. Moods can influence how well we do in certain situations, but so can something else. Our mindset. What’s the difference between a mood and a mindset? Moods are the emotions we feel. A mindset is the thoughts and ideas that go along with that mood. Mood and mindset go hand-in-hand because our thoughts can influence our mood. Here’s an example.
00:05:07:10 – 00:05:32:11
Madison
Imagine you’re competing in a swim meet this afternoon. Which mood and mindset helps you do your best? Mood A Insecure. You keep thinking about how the competition might blow you out of the water and maybe you’re not good enough to be on the team mood. Be annoyed. You’re thinking about how swimming interferes with your social life. Mood C pumped up and confident.
00:05:33:04 – 00:05:38:18
Madison
You’re thinking that if you do your best, there’s a good chance your team can play as well.
00:05:39:12 – 00:06:01:25
Joseph
Of course, you’re likely to do your best with the mood and mindset of option C, but what if you’re feeling A or B and worry that those moods might affect your performance? Luckily, you can change your mood now. I see this happen all the time, especially at work. And for me it’s a I don’t know, it’s a time of the week type thing.
00:06:01:25 – 00:06:33:00
Joseph
Like, like I always know that Mondays are going to be rough at work because there’s so much stuff there. There’s a bunch of stuff that comes in from the weekend and you don’t have a break to look forward to for five days. So one of the things that I try to do, knowing that it’s going to be like that, is to look on the bright side of things, trying to find the things that I enjoy about work, you know, interacting with my friends at work or doing the tasks that I find relaxing at work.
00:06:33:00 – 00:06:53:05
Joseph
And I kind of try to look forward to those things to to offset the general negativity that everyone seemed to have on a monday. Do you ever find yourself doing that where you’re trying to guide your own mood to to either prepare yourself for something or to cope with something that you’ve already gone through?
00:06:53:29 – 00:07:25:24
Madison
A lot of the times I feel like it’s coping more or less. But yeah, I, I do that. A lot of times, whenever I have certain amounts of schoolwork to do, it’s like, okay, I need to run through what I have to do and find like points that are pretty easy that I can get done quicker so that I’m not like, oh, or like, set myself up for breaks and time to just calm my mind so that I’m not like completely stressed about everything and I get no progress done.
00:07:26:07 – 00:07:54:18
Joseph
And you know, it’s interesting, this week was a good example of that because you came home, I think it was yesterday I came home and you had gotten a couple of fairly big assignments from school and you had some quizzes coming up and you kindly were you were sort of down on school and down on things. And and one of the things that I tried to do was kind of walk you through the steps to do the things that you’re doing.
00:07:55:06 – 00:08:01:12
Joseph
And by the time we finished our conversation, I think it had a positive effect. When you talk about that a little bit.
00:08:01:12 – 00:08:31:26
Madison
Yesterday was not great. Specifically, again, relating to the fact that the end of the marking period is the end of the month and for some reason that’s when school decides that they’re just going to give you a ton of projects to do because why not? I guess at least that’s my perspective on it. But I was really stressed because I had a lot of stuff that I needed to do that day or while I was there was a lot of stuff that I had to do.
00:08:31:26 – 00:08:53:28
Madison
And granted, while they weren’t due that day, they were still a ton of pretty big assignments and I know I’m going to even I’m going to get even more because you know that’s going to happen. And the end of the marketing period isn’t too recent, but it was enough for me to see this kind of thing. So I was not feeling great.
00:08:53:28 – 00:09:02:17
Madison
And then you came home and we talked about it and basically we worked out like a means of, like breaking everything down.
00:09:03:05 – 00:09:25:03
Joseph
Yeah. And one of the things that’s important to keep in mind is that the a lot of it is about perspective. You know, sometimes you can flip your perspective on things like you look at assignments as being a negative, whereas really you need to look at assignments as an opportunity for you to demonstrate what you know, because that’s really what they are.
00:09:25:15 – 00:09:43:24
Joseph
Assignments aren’t. They’re just as make busywork. That’s why knowing gives you a they typically don’t give you an assignment at the beginning of the marking period, the beginning of the year, because what they want to do is pour a bunch of knowledge into you and then give you a chance to demonstrate that. And they do that through quizzes and tests and projects.
00:09:44:19 – 00:10:08:18
Joseph
And the projects tend to be a little bit more creative in how they allow you to demonstrate that. I’ll give you an example. Brakes on a car. Okay. Everybody thinks that brakes on a car are make you stop. That’s not their primary function. Brakes on a car are like are there to allow you to go fast because if you didn’t have brakes, your car would never go.
00:10:08:18 – 00:10:15:09
Joseph
More than ten miles an hour would never go faster than a bicycle, because you can’t stop if you go faster than that.
00:10:15:18 – 00:10:15:29
Madison
Yeah.
00:10:16:08 – 00:10:37:00
Joseph
So you put brakes on the car so that you can go faster so that you have the ability to stop the car after going fast. And a lot of people don’t look at it like that. Your projects are there to demonstrate their their chance for you to showcase your skills. So that’s when you get a chance. Everyone takes the same test and you want to get it right or you get it wrong.
00:10:37:08 – 00:10:56:05
Joseph
But when you get a project, a project is like a test with your own twist on it, and it’s a chance for you to to highlight your different skills. And that’s kind of how you have to look at it. And by by flipping things like that and by changing how you look at things, that’s how you change your mood.
00:10:56:18 – 00:11:23:14
Joseph
You know, I used to love getting project at school because to me, taking a test was boring, but a project I got to invest time and effort and creativity and and let some of my own personality show through in that. That’s what a project is and that’s how that’s the kind of thing that you thrive on. And you kind of have to realize that, you know, when you did your poster project, your poster project was awesome.
00:11:23:14 – 00:11:44:12
Joseph
We had fun. You and I had fun doing you know, stuff like that on it. So that’s the stuff that you have to look at and that’s how you change your mood. You know, you choose to look at things in a positive light. Is there anything that’s going on right now where you think it would benefit if you chose a different mood to look at it from?
00:11:45:00 – 00:12:03:05
Madison
I mean, I guess the assignments that I’m currently working on it, I mean, I don’t really like having to do some of them cause I don’t really see them in a positive light. So maybe if I saw them in a positive light, it might have been it might be slightly better.
00:12:03:09 – 00:12:22:27
Joseph
Yeah, well, I mean, even like your tests. So when you have a test or you have a quiz, what do we do? We study for it together. That’s a chance for you. And I spend a little extra time together that we don’t normally have. I kind of look forward to that. You know, like when you came home and you had a But you have a problem with your engineering class or something.
00:12:23:16 – 00:12:46:01
Joseph
I have fun figuring those things out with you and teaching you when we do study for history class, I don’t just go over the stuff for history class. I always try to add a little bit more in there so you can have a little bit of, you know, accent, a little bit of of what’s the word I’m looking for.
00:12:46:19 – 00:13:09:27
Joseph
What’s what’s like additional flavoring, you know, So it’s not just the bland stuff. You just went through a very bland part of history in your class. And even I couldn’t come up with something interesting to say about it, but we got through it right. So you know that you’re not in it alone. You know you’re going to get your help.
00:13:09:27 – 00:13:31:19
Joseph
So you kind of have to let those things turn those things around for you. I think that was all we had on our intro here. We’re going to take a quick break and come back and we’ll talk about how to choose your mood. We’ll be right back.
00:13:33:06 – 00:14:09:22
Michelle
Insights into Teens, a podcast series exploring the issues and challenges of today’s youth. Talking to real teens about real teen problems. Explore issues from braces to puberty, social anxiety to financial responsibility. Each week we talk about the topics concerning today’s youth. We look at how the issues affect teens, how to cope with these issues, and how parents, friends and loved ones can help teens handle these challenges.
00:14:10:15 – 00:14:36:04
Michelle
Check out our video episodes on YouTube.com backslash insights into things. Catch our audio versions on podcast are insights into teens. XCOM or on the web and insights into things. XCOM.
00:14:36:10 – 00:15:07:24
Madison
Welcome back to Insights into Teens. Today we’re talking about choosing your mood, and now we’re going to detail how you actually choose your mood. So step one identify your mood to switch moods. You need to check in with what you’re currently thinking and feeling. That way you can decide if you need to change your mood to one that’s more suited for for your situation, or if you’re in the best mood to begin with to identify a mood, stop and think about what you’re feeling and why.
00:15:08:05 – 00:15:18:26
Madison
Put those feelings into words like, Wow, I’m really sad right now, or I’m feeling really alone. You can say this silently to yourself out loud or to someone else.
00:15:19:23 – 00:15:47:13
Joseph
Step two is to accept what you feel after you name your emotion. Show yourself some understanding for feeling the way you do. It’s perfectly okay and perfectly natural to feel bored on a rainy Saturday or annoyed about having to study when everyone else is going out. All emotions are acceptable and understandable, but you don’t have to hold on to a feeling that way.
00:15:48:02 – 00:15:51:10
Joseph
Notice your mood, then choose to move past it.
00:15:52:11 – 00:16:13:25
Madison
And the final step is to identify the mood that’s best for the situation you’re in. If you’re competing in a swim meet, it’s best to be pumped up and confident. If you need to get down to something, do some serious studying. It’s better to feel interested, alert and confident and not so helpful to feeling grumpy, annoyed and self defeated.
00:16:14:10 – 00:16:19:28
Madison
Take a minute to think about which emotions will help you accomplish your goal.
00:16:20:18 – 00:16:32:25
Joseph
So let me ask you real quick, how well do you think, on a scale of 1 to 10 or ten point scale, how well do you think you are at identifying your mood?
00:16:33:22 – 00:16:34:23
Madison
7.5.
00:16:35:04 – 00:16:47:03
Joseph
Okay. So that’s pretty good. I don’t know if most people are that good. Is it because you have the same consistent mood or are you just that in tune with your moods and emotions?
00:16:47:10 – 00:17:11:05
Madison
Well, I think it’s because I’ve spent I’ve like had times where I haven’t really been able to control my moods to the point where I’ve kind of had to keep more track of them. So I guess from that I’ve tried to keep more track of my moods and especially if I’m trying to relate my feelings towards you guys.
00:17:11:05 – 00:17:16:24
Madison
It’s like, Well, I kind of need an easier way to describe this, or it’s probably best to figure out what exactly is going on.
00:17:17:03 – 00:17:53:21
Joseph
That makes sense. So it’s a skill that you’ve developed over time. Having had less perspective on your moods. Yes, I find that I recognize my moods almost as often by how my moods are reflected on other people. If I’m angry or if I’m annoyed. And I don’t want to just attribute the feeling to a negative. Like if I’m happy, the people around me are happy, and if I’m angry, the people around me react to me being angry.
00:17:54:09 – 00:18:05:02
Joseph
So my mood may not immediately be evident to me, but seeing how people react to my mood, I tend to be that puts me more in tune with it.
00:18:05:08 – 00:18:40:20
Madison
Yeah, and I definitely think that was like a step that I was at for a while that ended up making me think, okay, I really probably should be noticing this sooner is when I started kind of realizing what I was saying was affecting people and it made me want to have that not happen. Other people, because I didn’t want them to have to feel negative toward me feeling negative, which is why now when I’m feeling negative, I try not to make it obvious to other people unless I feel comfortable telling them and assuring them that, Hey, I’m not mad at you, I’m just not feeling great.
00:18:41:01 – 00:18:52:14
Madison
And even then, I occasionally turn that off when I noticed that one of my other friends is upset and I’m like, okay, you know, talk to me. Or I would just like smile at them and kind of let them know, Hey, you’re doing good.
00:18:52:20 – 00:19:33:14
Joseph
Yeah. I find people tend to tend to mis understand or misread my my moods. A lot of people tend to see me as being negative. And it’s not that I’m necessarily negative, especially at work. I have a very analytical mind and I tend to notice things that other people don’t notice, which I have to tell you is kind of annoying sometimes because it’s almost like, I wish I didn’t notice things, but when I notice these things, like I’m the type of person that will go out to a restaurant and I’ll notice that a light bulb is out or a fan isn’t working or a table is out of play, I’ll notice things that aren’t congruent
00:19:33:14 – 00:20:02:19
Joseph
with the way things should be, and there’s an inherent drive in me to want to fix those things and to fix problems in general. So at work I’ll notice things aren’t run the way that they should be or as well as they should be. Or we didn’t communicate well enough or someone didn’t respond fast enough. You know, I’ll I’ll find these things and I’ll point them out and people look at me and think I’m being negative.
00:20:03:15 – 00:20:29:05
Joseph
And really, it’s not because my job is to solve problems. So there aren’t any immediate problems for me to solve. I go and look for problems to solve because there’s always problems. And because of that, people tend to look at me and think that I’m negative in my mood and stuff. But solving problems is what energizes me. It’s what makes me feel useful and gives me a sense of purpose.
00:20:29:05 – 00:20:47:00
Joseph
Hence why when you come home, the first thing I want to do when you have issues is solve problems. I’ll get home. Mom will tell me problems about work and the first thing I want to do is offer advice on her son. That’s what makes me tick. You know, and people tend to think I’m negative for that. Do you think I’m negative?
00:20:48:00 – 00:21:17:14
Madison
No. I have a pretty similar way when it comes to that. I’m as much as I am still kind of negative when it comes to a lot of things. I’ve gotten better than what I how I used to be. And now I’m still trying to be more logical as long as I’m not in an emotional state. Most of the time I am logical when it comes to my situations and most of the time being logical.
00:21:17:14 – 00:21:30:18
Madison
It’s not that you’re negative or you’re positive, it’s just you kind of look at things from a logical perspective and sometimes there’s logical outcomes that you don’t like and logical outcomes that you do like.
00:21:30:22 – 00:21:50:23
Joseph
Well, and that’s the thing, if you’re following logic, sometimes the conclusion of that logic isn’t where you want to be, but from a logical standpoint, that’s where you need to be. Yeah. So how do you get into the best move? Well, after you imagine the move that’s best suited for your task or situation, it’s time to get into that mood.
00:21:51:03 – 00:22:11:21
Joseph
Think P four positive and focus on the six things that can help you reset your mood. Purpose is the first. Get clear on what you want and need to do. For example, you might want to get your studying done as fast and as well as possible so you can go to the party later.
00:22:12:12 – 00:22:26:18
Madison
The second is please put yourself in the right situation. Environment influences mood. If you need to study, it’s better to find a table or desk in a quiet room than to do it in a coffee shop where you might see friends who distract you.
00:22:27:05 – 00:22:44:22
Joseph
People who can help you feel the way you need to feel. A focus. Classmate is a better study companion than a chatty friend. Sometimes just thinking of a particular person is enough to help you feel confident, inspired, strong and supported.
00:22:45:09 – 00:22:59:18
Madison
Playlist is also important. Music is one of the most powerful influences on Mood because it’s all about communicating and inspiring emotion. Create playlist for the moods that are the most helpful and positive for your life.
00:23:00:22 – 00:23:21:27
Joseph
Posture. Move your body into the right mood for studying. Try exercises that help you focus on your physical posture, like yoga or TAICHI for energy. Try and workout to get your heart rate up to prepare for sleep. Try deep breathing, gentle stretching or other soothing activities.
00:23:22:20 – 00:23:45:04
Madison
And the final is promotion. Encourage yourself with self-talk. Self-Talk is a way of using thoughts to influence your mood. If you’ve ever said to yourself, okay, let’s get serious for a minute, or I can do this, you know, you’ve used self-talk to get into the right mood for a situation. Self-Talk doesn’t just create the mindset that supports your mood.
00:23:45:04 – 00:23:51:00
Madison
It also helps you to keep a good mood going. That’s why Pep Talks works so well for athletes.
00:23:51:20 – 00:24:13:12
Joseph
Now, I don’t know if you’ve used any of these techniques. I look at a couple of these and I probably have unconsciously not knowing that this list exists, that I think purpose is one that drives us all. That’s the first thing that comes to mind for me when I’m thinking of motivation is like, I, I need to have an end goal.
00:24:13:12 – 00:24:36:14
Joseph
I need to have a finish line that I’m going to drag my body across to drag the project across or base everything else on. So that’s purpose to me for you. When you when you think of school projects, is purpose something that’s that’s an important factor for you to focus on?
00:24:37:09 – 00:25:05:06
Madison
Yeah, that’s definitely what has driven me a lot. Specifically with things like summer reading assignments, I tell myself that like, okay, I’m going to read this many pages or get this far in a book. By this time so that I can get the book. I can have the book done over a longer stretch of time, but I can still remember it all for when I have like a quiz in school.
00:25:05:10 – 00:25:28:18
Joseph
That’s a good point. Place is one that I don’t necessarily think I focus on, but it’s one that can have an effect and it has. You know, most of the work that I do, I go into the office. I don’t work remotely, not very often at least, but I have a private office that I work in. So for the most part, I don’t have any distractions that I have to worry about.
00:25:29:11 – 00:25:54:18
Joseph
I do find that the few occasions that I have to work from home, it’s much more distracting. Either the cats want attention or you guys are around. Like during COVID when I get to work from home a few times, or it’s just my inability to to not do the things that I would normally do sitting at my computer.
00:25:54:21 – 00:26:13:15
Joseph
You know, my computer at home is for recreation. So my first instinct is to retreat when I’m there, pull up a game or pull up websites or you know, do something like that. So it takes a good deal of effort to not do that. Is there a good place for you Is or a bad place? Is there a place that you go to best be effective?
00:26:14:04 – 00:26:37:14
Madison
Honestly, it’s the exact opposite of what you just stated. I actually work way better when I’m home than when I’m at school because I most of the time the cats don’t always bother me and even then I don’t get all that distracted by the cats. But the kitchen is a great place for me to do my work because there’s normally plenty of light.
00:26:37:25 – 00:27:02:00
Madison
While the chairs may not be there all that comfortable, it’s still a good place for me to do my work. I can’t really do my work in my room all that much, but I can sometimes. But what I find annoying is, well, when I am at home, I am the one who tells me, Okay, these are the times that you’re doing things.
00:27:02:00 – 00:27:22:18
Madison
I like to have that control, and that’s a great environment for which I can do that in. And if I needed a break, I could take a break. It’s not like I’m forced to work constantly. I’m allowed to have time for my brain to relax. And even then I get a decent amount of I feel like I have more time for quiet.
00:27:23:03 – 00:27:48:18
Madison
I have a lot more like silence that I appreciate when it comes to working at home than I do at school. Because sometimes, like I’m not always given a lot of time in school to work because then I have I have to pay attention to like a lecture or something, or I just get annoyed at the kids at school because everybody talks for some reason.
00:27:49:20 – 00:28:01:20
Madison
And I personally find it that at home I’m at a comfort level to where I’m able to work comfortably without like being too comfortable to where I don’t feel like working.
00:28:01:20 – 00:28:23:22
Joseph
Good point, people. So for me, people is my team and, and it’s when my team isn’t there and for the last year, year or so now, my development staff has been working remotely because we just don’t have the facilities. It’s had an impact on our productivity. We’re still productive, but we’re not as productive as I’d like to be.
00:28:24:25 – 00:28:46:02
Joseph
I’m more hands on in what I hope to think is a positive where I’m not a micromanager, but I very much like to communicate directly with my team. Excuse me. We work very well together. We bounce ideas off of people, is a very collaborative environment. How about you.
00:28:47:02 – 00:29:20:05
Madison
For me that you kind of like how both you and I have very analytical ways of dealing with things. I feel like whenever I go to you for any assistance when it comes to my work, I you’re a good influence on me. It’s like I’ve gotten like my I feel like I’ve gotten my eloquent writing from you, my analytical thinking from you and the way that I try to look at problems.
00:29:20:05 – 00:29:22:13
Madison
What? I’m not freaking out about them from you.
00:29:23:00 – 00:29:41:24
Joseph
Mm hmm. Well, thank you very much. How about playlist? Did you get to play this for me, too? So what is. What is your playlist to get you in the right mood? Well, and it can be a genre or collection. It doesn’t have to be specific songs.
00:29:42:27 – 00:29:51:05
Madison
Well, sometimes when I’m working on things and it’s too quiet, I’ll listen to weirdo.
00:29:51:25 – 00:29:55:07
Joseph
Weird owls, or good inspiration can get much more creative to wear it out.
00:29:55:09 – 00:29:55:21
Madison
Yeah, I.
00:29:56:19 – 00:30:00:04
Joseph
Guess what mine is. Star Wars. Yeah. I listen to Star Wars music.
00:30:00:06 – 00:30:06:04
Madison
Yep. I hear it every time. Every time I come into the studio.
00:30:06:09 – 00:30:36:22
Joseph
Yeah. Posture. All right, So posture. I am horrible with. I slouch, I lean, I’m. I’m crunched over. Sometimes my problem with posture is I’ve got so many aches and pains and problems and health issues and all that stuff. I can’t sit up straight. My body just doesn’t do them. Everybody hasn’t sat up straight and probably 30 years. So posture for me has never been one that helps me to work.
00:30:38:18 – 00:30:53:25
Joseph
In fact, I had to buy a little adapter for my chair to keep it from going down on me because it’s too low at work. What about you? Was posture because I know it was a big thing for you when you had the one chair and the one chair wasn’t comfortable. We went out. We bought you a new chair for your room.
00:30:54:11 – 00:31:07:13
Joseph
Does that help you to get into the mood to to to be productive, to focus? Who’s already talked about the uncomfortable kitchen chairs, which I’m 100% with you on that.
00:31:08:02 – 00:31:36:07
Madison
I mean, I don’t find them. I probably don’t find them as uncomfortable as you do. But yeah, they’re not that soft when it comes to sitting on them. They’re like sitting on rocks. But I’m used to that. I don’t really think I’ve had too much experience with posture other than the needing of a new chair, which even then I really just sat in that chair for gaming and so forth, and it was just like it kept going down on me.
00:31:36:07 – 00:31:56:18
Madison
It was just that it was a faulty chair at the time and not really for my posture because thing is, when I’m working, I cannot have the computer. I want the computer close to me, but not like on the desk. Like occasionally when I’m working, I kind of just go, I’ll kind of just like put my arms on the table.
00:31:56:18 – 00:31:56:26
Madison
You’re a.
00:31:56:26 – 00:31:57:15
Joseph
Leaner.
00:31:57:18 – 00:32:04:19
Madison
I’m a leaner, so I probably do not have good posture, but I don’t know if that really affects how well I work.
00:32:05:03 – 00:32:30:09
Joseph
Okay, fair enough. Promotion. So do you self motivate? Do you talk yourself up? Do you talk yourself past obstacles? And can you can you set yourself up, you know, like a motivational speaker and get things done? Or is that really not your strong point? Wow, that was a dead silence. There.
00:32:30:09 – 00:32:36:04
Madison
Well, some times maybe.
00:32:36:22 – 00:32:40:05
Joseph
Well, okay. So that right there, not motivational at all.
00:32:40:12 – 00:33:00:23
Madison
Yeah. Thing is, most of the time, even if my mindset isn’t panicky, it’s like I don’t, like, promote myself to the point where it’s like, you know, extremely positive. Like, we can totally get this done. It’s like, get this done or else.
00:33:01:25 – 00:33:04:08
Joseph
So you threaten yourself. You don’t motivate yourself.
00:33:04:15 – 00:33:04:25
Madison
Yeah.
00:33:05:08 – 00:33:45:24
Joseph
Nice. Well, my motivation and I. I don’t do it as often as I probably should or can do, but my motivation myself, motivation kind of stems from when I used to play football in high school and you’re, you know, athletic and you’re working out and it’s a matter of pushing your body to pass. A difficult point, a difficult, you know, progressive sprints ahead of the hated doing progressive on the field or doing powerlifting and pushing past a squat or something like that where it’s very difficult and you need to kind of motivate yourself.
00:33:45:24 – 00:34:05:12
Joseph
That’s sort of where my self-motivation originated. But hello, maybe I just don’t find like when I’m not motivated and I’m not in the mood to do something, I’m just to the point that I’m just not going to do it. I’m not going to bother worrying about it. I’ll come back to it later, which is not a good thing.
00:34:05:12 – 00:34:25:12
Joseph
I’ll be the first one to admit that. But I don’t I don’t push myself in self-promotion anymore. So and some of that’s just bad habit, you know, I’ve got to break that habit to get through things. But I think for the most part, I motivate it when I need to be motivated. Anyway, we’re going to take a second break.
00:34:25:18 – 00:34:38:25
Joseph
We’re going to come back and we’re going to tell you how to get out of an unhelpful mood. We’ll be right back.
00:34:39:26 – 00:35:10:28
Michelle
Insights into Entertainment, a podcast series taking a deeper look into entertainment and media. Our husband and wife team of pop culture fanatics are exploring all things from music and movies to television and fandom. We’ll look at the interesting and obscure entertainment news of the week. We’ll talk about theme park and pop culture news. We’ll give you the latest and greatest on pop culture conventions.
00:35:11:27 – 00:35:38:13
Michelle
We’ll give you a deep dive into Disney, Star Wars and much more. Check out our video episodes at YouTube.com. Backslash Insights into things are audio episodes and podcast insights into entertainment dot com. Or check us out on the web at insights into things icon.
00:35:38:13 – 00:35:40:15
Joseph
I didn’t transition. Sorry. Wrong.
00:35:40:15 – 00:35:53:07
Madison
But anyway. Welcome back to Insights into Teens today we’re talking about choosing your mood and now we’re going to talk about how to get out of an unhelpful mood, mood.
00:35:54:01 – 00:35:59:10
Joseph
Mode, mood. Hey, look, I gave you a hard cut back. You can strip a line however you want.
00:36:00:13 – 00:36:25:05
Madison
To get out of a mood that’s unpleasant or unhelpful. Thank you. For you turn to try these mood changers. The first is undo. Do something to break the train of thought that keeps your old mood going. Distract yourself with a game of Sudoku. Sudoku or simply focus on what’s going on outside your window for a few minutes. Distractions are like rebooting your mind.
00:36:25:05 – 00:36:27:02
Madison
They create a space between moods.
00:36:27:07 – 00:36:47:25
Joseph
And being a computer guy. I know how often you need to reboot your mind. The next is Unstick change your body posture. Here we go. Of course I got the body posture. Change your body posture. Lean the other way if you’re sitting stand up. My boss is big on some standing. He want you to stand all the time.
00:36:47:25 – 00:37:06:01
Joseph
He even has a standing desk himself, which is funny. Just a little sidebar here. So when I’m having a video conference with him because he’s out in California, he’ll he’ll actually stand the desk up while he’s having a conference with me. So you’ll just see the whole background start moving, see if you stay in love. It’s really funny.
00:37:07:06 – 00:37:25:07
Joseph
So if you’re sitting stand up, do some jumping jacks because, you know, you look at me. I don’t want to look right. Stretch the cats. I’ll teach you that much. Walk around the room that I do do. I’ll get up and I’ll walk around the building. If I’m low on energy. I have to do that this afternoon because I was dozing off.
00:37:26:09 – 00:37:31:08
Joseph
Moving your body changes your mindset and your mood and your posture to.
00:37:32:14 – 00:37:48:22
Madison
And the final is unwind, sit quietly, breathe gently, and focus on each breath to keep your mind from wandering back to a mood that you’re trying to change. Every time you take a breath, say to yourself, I’m breathing in and I’m breathing out. Focus on feeling calm.
00:37:49:24 – 00:38:12:18
Joseph
You’ve probably chosen your mood before without even realizing it. Many times people choose a mood naturally without thinking about it. But practicing ways to choose your mood intentionally can help you get good at it. So next time you feel a strong mood, stop and name it. Ask yourself if it’s the ideal mood for what you’re trying to accomplish.
00:38:13:12 – 00:38:37:18
Joseph
Sometimes even the happiest of moods might not be the be right for a particular situation. As anyone who’s excited about a weekend with their weekend plans during a Friday afternoon class knows. So what do you think, Madison? Do you think the ability to choose your mood is a reality for most people? Do you think it’s out of reach?
00:38:37:18 – 00:38:40:04
Joseph
Do you think it’s attainable?
00:38:40:04 – 00:39:07:04
Madison
I think it’s attainable. I don’t know if like I mean, it could be for everybody, but there’s definitely going to be times when it’s going to be a lot harder for certain people. And, you know, I feel that’s fine, too. So much like a lot of things, some things it would probably become easier to some people and others it would be pretty hard or almost unattainable to them.
00:39:07:25 – 00:39:35:03
Joseph
So I think you’re a living embodiment of exercising this particular mental feat of changing your mood. You’ve clearly gotten better at it over the over years. What’s your advice to someone if, you know, maybe they’re younger, maybe they’ve never tried it. If they find that they’re stuck in a funk, you know, they can’t get out of a move.
00:39:35:03 – 00:39:40:05
Joseph
What’s your what’s your advice to someone like that to try to get them past something?
00:39:40:29 – 00:40:13:17
Madison
Well, for me, I feel like one of the easiest things was to find a way out of a certain mood. And and that would be kind of through distractions, kind of like the undo part said, basically find things that you enjoy doing that gives you a positive mood or makes you feel better and use that as a way to kind of calm and offset your original mood.
00:40:14:12 – 00:40:33:27
Madison
It would probably make you feel a lot better, and that way you can kind of be in a better state to kind of figure things out. Because I’ve noticed that when I get pretty emotional, I don’t think logically it’s like something seems like a big issue to me when I’m emotional. Looking back is really not that big of a deal.
00:40:35:25 – 00:40:36:07
Madison
So yeah.
00:40:36:21 – 00:40:55:15
Joseph
So I think one of the things that that we really didn’t address here is how do you recognize when you’re in the wrong mood? What are some of the red flags that you’ll see? Is it like, you know, I briefly talked about seeing how people react to my mood, but how do you know when you’re in a mood that’s not helpful?
00:40:56:06 – 00:41:07:18
Joseph
I think it’s subjective from person to person, but I’m curious, you know, what your red flags are. How do you how do you notice that? How do you label that and how do you actively try to change it?
00:41:08:10 – 00:41:29:12
Madison
I only have a few examples, but one that I do want to touch on is when I’m working and like trying to get through like some project or something and I notice that I really am not. And the red flag for me is I notice that I’m not really getting a lot of progress done. And what I have done isn’t really my best work.
00:41:29:12 – 00:42:03:27
Madison
It kind of makes me stop and realize it’s like, okay, I’m clearly not focused. I clearly I’m having a hard time trying to even get this done. I need to kind of just step back and realize what I’m supposed to have that and kind of like step away, realize that, hey, it’s better to just take a few minutes, calm down and figure out what’s going on, as opposed to continue to trudge through it and get half the work done with pretty crappy work.
00:42:04:09 – 00:42:25:13
Joseph
Okay, I think that makes sense. I think that’s a good way of going about it. And like I said, I think we all have our own red flags that we kind of have to keep an eye on, but it’s recognizing those and then starting the process. I think that’s all we had for this week. We’re going to take a quick break, come back and we’ll get your closing thoughts and finish up the business, the podcast.
00:42:25:17 – 00:42:33:04
Joseph
All right. We’ll be right back.
00:42:33:04 – 00:43:13:23
Madison
All right. So to everyone out there, I just wanted to say that choosing your mood is something that a lot of think like a lot of things. It’s easier to come by for some people and harder for others. For me personally, I kind of had to go through a years long change of it when I first started not having full control over my mood or my emotions, I really didn’t know how to turn it off and I knew that I was hurting people and eventually that led me to trying to find ways to change my mood.
00:43:13:23 – 00:43:42:00
Madison
And while I certainly am not at like an area where I feel like I can control my mood as much as I’d like, I’m way better than I was when I first started. So I do feel anybody could really take the steps to find ways of controlling their moods. And I definitely also just want to make it clear that it’s fine if it takes you a while.
00:43:42:00 – 00:43:51:26
Madison
It took me a few years to get to where I am now, and honestly, I do feel like it’s something that people can learn and if they can should learn.
00:43:52:15 – 00:44:21:07
Joseph
Awesome sage advice, as always, thank you. I think that is all we had today. Before we move on, I do want to once again invite our listening and viewing audience to subscribe to the podcast. You can find audio versions of this podcast listed as insights in the teens, video versions of this, and all the network’s podcasts, as well as audio episodes can be found listed as insights into things.
00:44:21:22 – 00:44:42:00
Joseph
Any place you can get a podcast these days, you can also reach out us directly. You can email us your comments and insights into things that come. You can hit us on Twitter at Insights, underscore things We do stream five days a week on YouTube at YouTube.com, slash insights into things where you can find all of our videos as well.
00:44:42:27 – 00:45:13:29
Joseph
We also stream five days a week on Twitch at Twitch TV slash insights into things. If you are an Amazon Prime subscriber, you do get a free monthly Twitch prime subscription. We’d appreciate it if you’d subscribe to the There you can find us on Facebook at Facebook.com slash insights in the Things podcast as well as Instagram and instagram.com slash insights into things where you can find us at our website, WWE, our insights into things dot com and you.
00:45:14:10 – 00:45:25:15
Madison
And don’t forget to check out our other two podcast insights and entertainment hosted by you and Mommy and Turner tomorrow are not really monthly podcast anymore. Host About you my brother Sam.
00:45:25:20 – 00:45:27:03
Joseph
That’s it and I’m one of the books.
00:45:27:04 – 00:45:27:23
Madison
By everyone.
00:45:27:26 – 00:45:54:04
Joseph
By.