MOOD AS PREDISPOSITION FOR ACTION

From an ontological perspective, we say that how we see the world (our structure of interpretation) is determined by the language we use, the mood we embody, and our bodies. Last week we explored how our language creates our realities. This week we will explore how our mood is a predisposition for action.

The Cambridge Dictionary defines predisposition as: “The state of being likely to behave in a particular way”. We would then argue that our mood will influence how we behave in a certain way. If we are filled with anxiety, we will see the world as threatening and unsafe. If we live in a mood of wonder, we will be open to seeing how things unfold and what opportunities arise.?

INTRODUCTION TO EMOTIONS AND MOODS

Emotion is generally defined as ‘a strong feeling triggered by sensory input, and the duration thereof is brief’. The term ‘emotion’ is derived from the French word émotion, which means ’a (social) moving, stirring, or agitation’.?

Emotions will evoke a brief body experience that will result in us experiencing either a pleasant or unpleasant feeling and will lead to a state of alertness (jitter) or calm.

Paul Elkman identified six basic emotions: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise. However, Rubert Plutchick identified eight primary emotions that he grouped in four pairs of opposites: Anger-Fear, Trust-Disgust, Joy-Sadness and Surprise-Anticipation.

Emotions play an essential role in a coach’s engagement with clients and facilitate change. In Awaken the Giant Within, Anthony Robbins (1992) summarises this role brilliantly:

The only way to effectively use your emotions is to understand that they all serve you. You must learn from your emotions and use them to create the results you want from a great quality life. The emotions you once thought of as negative are merely a call to action. Once you’re familiar with each signal and its message, your emotions become not your enemy but your ally. They become your friend, your mentor, your coach; they guide you through life’s most soaring highs, and its most demoralising lows.

On the other hand, mood can most probably best be described by referring to a story, movie, or series. We can observe the mood or tone of a movie. Just as in a story or movie, we are always in a mood, which manifests in our bodies and language.

It is clear that moods become part of our way of being and influence how we observe life, the world we live in, and ultimately our quality of existence.

Allan Sieler (2007) states that moods are developed through emotions or emotional episodes that are present for long enough to turn into moods. If these experiences of emotions are repeated, it forms a mood.

ESSENCE OF EMOTIONS

There is a lot of literature regarding emotions, including how emotions are constructed and how much control we have over our emotions. In How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain, Lisa Fieldman, shares her more than 25 years of research and practical experience.

Her research confirms that every second we are alive we observe information through our bodies (interoception) and external input through our senses (hearing, seeing, tasting, smell, and touch), which our brains process. As a predictive learning machine, the brain assesses current data against prior data (our previous ‘experiences’). The brain needs to comprehend this sensory input from the body to respond. The brain then prepares the body to respond through the nervous, cardiovascular, immune, endocrine, and musculoskeletal systems. It can be concluded that emotions are on the spot meanings (predictions) of the body and the brain’s best guess is how a person should feel. Emotions are formed in the moment, which means that a person controls his/her emotions.

The construction of emotions occur based on:

• Sensory input from the body (interoception) at a non-conscious level our environment?(exteroception).
• Person’s goals to survive and personal drives.
• Predictions are based on accumulated memories and prior experiences.

(Barret, 2017).

?Lisa explains this in the video 3-minute video linked here:

Understanding how emotions are made is essential from an ontological coaching perspective to be aware of how emotions and moods influence our way of being and how we observe.

Allan Sieler (2007) shares twelve points that are interrelated and also key in influencing our way of being:

As humans, we are ‘emotioning‘ beings. Emotioning is our way of following our passions, desires, and preferences. Lisa Barret refers to these as our concepts, goals, and words. Therefore, it is what is important to us. We can say which values will drive our actions at a deeper level.

An example of this is that for most teachers, the passion for teaching is more important than the financial benefit they get from a career in teaching. Emotioning does not only energise us to explore our passions, desires, and preferences. It will also evoke certain emotions if we experience breakdowns to achieve these outcomes.

Moods are a particular part of the emotional domains. Moods can be profound, invisible, underlying currents that influence how we observe, not only as individuals but also as collective groups.

Emotions reveal different worlds of possibilities. Emotions assist us in creating meaning. Emotions contribute to shaping our realities, which consist of how we observe the world we live in and create possibilities.

Emotions are predispositions for action. We take action based on the meaning or reality shaped by our emotions. This happens when our emotions shift, ?or/and possibilities shift, and new actions and results follow.

The emotional domain is a significant area of learning and profound change. Our emotional domain will enable us to become better observers when we are open to learning from this domain.

Emotions are an integral part of how we constitute and deal with breakdowns. We experience breakdowns when our natural flow of how we assumed things would be, is interrupted. During these breakdowns, emotions are always at play and how well we deal with our emotions will influence how well we deal with the breakdown.

Emotions play a vital role in the quality of our conversations and relationships. In order to facilitate communication with each other, we live in conversations. These conversations consist of both listening and speaking. The quality of these conversations will directly be influenced by the tone created by the emotions and mood.

Emotions are intertwined with language and body. The ‘energy’ of emotions, language, and body directly influence each other and our way of being. For example, my emotions and mood will influence the language I use in a situation as well as my posture or stance.

The nature of emotions can be interpreted through their linguistic reconstruction. Based on the premise, emotions are intertwined with language and body. It gives us a lens to observe the effect of emotions on language and body, which opens up the opportunity to coach.

Emotions are not only private mental states, but also social phenomena experienced among and between people. We are not only affected by our emotions and moods; we can also be influenced by those of other individuals, groups, or organisations.

Managing emotions is indispensable for the development of a self-authoring level of consciousness. If we take ownership of observing our own emotions and moods, it opens up the opportunity for us to be the authors of our lives.

Curious to explore further, here is a link to a 14 minute Ted Talk by Tiffany Watt Smith, on how she integrates emotions and language:?

MOODS

As stated in the introduction, moods are the emotional background from which we live and act, some of which can be deeply entrenched.

Moods are one of the significant parts of the philosophy of Martin Heidegger and Allan Sielerin Coaching to the Human Soul: Ontological Coaching and Deep Change, Volume 2. They?summarise the following six concepts to ponder when working with moods:

How one finds oneself. Heidegger’s description in German for moods is, “Befindlichkeit”, loosely translated as ‘how one finds oneself’. The following is a good way to describe a mood: how we experience (our felt sense) various situations and/or how things are and/or how things are for us. Heidegger stated that we are always in a mood, and never free of moods. He also commented that we experience a mood ‘before’ articulating it through language, which also aligns with the thinking on emotions expressed above. Lastly, he believed felt sense of a mood is not concrete or based on fact. We base the mood on a feel for the situation, like having an intuitive feel.

Moods as care. Heidegger believed that our existence is one of ‘concernful absorption’ and our actions are ‘concernful activity’. This means that we are already engaged with what matters to us before engaging with the world. He believed that our moods are influenced by what we genuinely care about. This also correlates with Liza Barret’s findings, that our concepts, goals, and words influence our emotions.

Moods are not filters. Heidegger stated that the observer sees the mood and the ‘reality” ‘of the world as the same thing.

Moods and our potential-for-being. Our moods determine how open or closed we are to the world. Just as language can unlock specific opportunities, moods can support us towards future growth by declaring it.

Social nature of moods. Heidegger also supports the notion that we are not alone, that we are experiencing human existence when we are with others (‘being-with’ and ‘Being-Among’). We are born and grow up in a community, which influences how we observe and interact in the world.

Mastering moods. As we can already be in a mood, the power is in being aware of the mood and then shifting it to a more useful mood for the situation if required.

Eugene Gendlin wrote: ‘if we speak about Befindlichkeit not merely as something about humans, but as a basic way humans are open to anything, much more than psychology is affected’ (Sieler, 2007).

In summary, it is clear that the mood we and our clients live in, influences our attitude towards money, how we manage our money and how earn, to save and spend money. We must explore these moods with our clients’ permission, as a financial coach, to inquire which of these are serving them or not, in what they want to achieve. As they will not take different actions if they do not live in a supportive mood.?

Bibliography

Barret, L. F., 2017. How emotions are made, The secret life of the brian. New York: Houghton Miffin Harcourt.

Sieler, A., 2012. Coaching for the Human Soul, Ontological Coaching and Deep Change, Volume 3. Victoria: Newfield Institute.

MARCH THOUGHT LEADERSHIP SESSION

We are excited to host Erin Sikorski, on the 28th of March 2022, at 15H00. Erin is a Mitar Enterprise Private Capital partner and leading MITAR Enterprise Counsel. She provides guidance, operational analysis, and support to families and RIA’s to navigate the complexities of investing in illiquid investments. She has more than 20 years of experience in the financial service industry performing various roles.

Erin graduated from Indiana Unversity’s Kelly School of Business with a BS in Finance. She is a Certified Financial Planner and Certified Exit Planner.

She has a passion for supporting clients to navigate through business and life transitions.

We are looking forward to sharing the round table with Erin and you and exploring the Psychology of Transitions for clients in family and private businesses.

If you are not already part of the Monthly Financial Coaching Thought Leadership, you can register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYodeGprzIuHNDgiIc_AwSURDJW--lC0ymE

All of the best for your short week.

Regards,

CRAFFIES THE FINANCIAL COACHING ARTIST