Choosing How to React to Emotions (#035)

It's a pretty exciting week for James, who has finally started his new paid apprenticeship. He feels excited and nervous, and there's fear, but he's looking forward to it! Sean talks about his own fears, those he spent time sitting with, and how he realized that fear is not really bad and that extreme fear can actually promote growth. Finally, they talked about how emotions play in responding and reacting to situations. Key Takeaways: Do not let the what-ifs and the fears stop you from trying different things. If you do, you'll never know. The only way to be good at something is by being bad at it first. Most of us are so risk averse that we're mostly afraid to take very calculated, low-risk decisions. There are times when you're gonna make mistakes and it's okay. It's not the end of the world. You always will have this agency to choose how you react to your emotions. Episode Quotes: On failures and successes [00:12:28] Sean: We see failures as setbacks, but they're not bad at all. They're actually the way forward. [00:12:39] James: I think all success is underlined and paved through failure. No one has a success story without failing at some point. James on emotions and reactions [00:15:14] There are no good or bad emotions. They are just emotions. We have negative reactions to emotions. We have positive reactions to emotions. On reacting/responding to situations [00:17:01] Sean: If you see something happening, if you feel something, if you experience something, just recognizing that you have agency, that you have the ability to respond, the ability to make some choices and decisions. Again, it doesn't mean you have to act. [00:24:56] James: There are some days where you can react well and other days where you won't be able to react as well as you want, but you just keep going, and you kind of learn from that. You never expect yourself to be perfect in how you behave and perfect in how you react.