EMOTIONAL WELLBEING
STAYING STRONG
Emotive gym workouts by Archana Law
Most of us know what to do when we are physically hurt. Yet, when it comes to emotional injuries, many of us are surprisingly unprepared. Being rejected for a promotion, excluded from conversations, overwhelmed by loneliness, consumed by guilt or discouraged by failure are emotional wounds that are often ignored, minimised or pushed aside – and we convince ourselves to carry on.
Unfortunately, untreated emotional injuries linger far longer than physical ones; and they gradually affect our confidence, relationships, performance and wellbeing.
Like using a gym for physical fitness, we need an ‘emotional gym’ to strengthen our emotive muscles and develop resilience to recover from life’s inevitable setbacks.
In today’s high-pressure world, emotional injuries occur every day: a project proposal is rejected, a valued client leaves, trust is broken and so on. These experiences create psychological bruises, which can evolve into anxiety, burnout, low self-esteem, resentment or emotional exhaustion.
The good news is that emotional resilience can be developed and improved through consistent practice. The following workouts offer practical exercises that can strengthen mental and emotional wellbeing.
REJECTION This is one of the most common emotional injuries we experience. It can occur in personal relationships, social settings or workplaces – and make us feel inadequate.
Workout: Ask yourself what actually happened; whether your narrative is accurate or if there are other perspectives.
For example, not gaining a promotion may not necessarily mean you’re incapable. Separating facts from assumptions prevents rejection from becoming a permanent attack on self-worth.
CONNECTIONS Despite living in a hyper connected world, loneliness has become increasingly common. It often causes us to withdraw precisely when we need to stay connected.
Workout: Make one meaningful connection every day for seven days. This could involve calling a friend instead of sending a text; having coffee with a colleague; expressing appreciation to a family member; asking someone a genuine question and listening carefully.
GUILT RESET Guilt often serves an important purpose by alerting us when our actions aren’t aligned with our values. However, many people carry guilt long after the lesson has been learned.
Workout: Acknowledge what you are feeling guilty about; act by takinga corrective action (an apology, constructive dialogue or a commitment to change) and releaseyourself by consciously letting go of repeated self-punishment.
FAILURE REFRAME Failure is unavoidable. Every successful entrepreneur, leader, athlete and innovator has accumulated countless failures – but the difference lies in interpretation. Some people consider failure as proof of inadequacy while others see it as feedback.
Workout: Following a setback, ask yourself these three questions… What worked? What didn’t work? And what will I do differently next time?
This process shifts the brain from self-criticism to learning.
SELF-ESTEEM When our self-esteem is strong, it helps us recover faster from rejection, criticism and disappointment.
Workout: Create a strength inventory and write down five personal strengths, five past accomplishments and three difficult situations you successfully overcame. Review this list whenever self-doubt begins to dominate your thinking.
Confidence grows when we regularly remind ourselves of evidence rather than relying solely on positive thinking.
SELF-AWARENESS Perhaps the most important emotional muscle is self-awareness. Many people can recognise physical hunger immediately but struggle to identify their emotions accurately. They may say they’re stressed when they are actually disappointed, lonely, afraid, frustrated or overwhelmed. Without awareness, emotions drive behaviour unconsciously.
Workout: Through your day, pause and tune in to what you’re feeling, where you feel any stress or strain in your body and what this feeling conveys to you.
This increases emotional intelligence (EI) and improves decision making. Over time, you begin responding to emotions rather than reacting impulsively to them.
COOLING DOWN Likerecovery for physical workouts, emotional fitness requires reflection. Many people move from one task, meeting or crisis to another without processing their experiences.
Workout:At the end of each day, spend five minutes writing down what energised you, what drained you, what you’re grateful for and what you wish to improve.
This helps the mind process experiences, reduce emotional clutter and maintain perspective.
