Often in life we can break down our decisions to fall within two distinct categories, logical and emotional. When we utilize logic, we engage in critical thinking, exercise patience, objectively weigh the evidence, Ana’s tamp down our feelings that might get in the way of sound discussion making. When we are emotional, we ignore logic and instead and just react rather than respond to what we are feeling. Emotional thinking is based on feelings and experiences.
Both logic and emotions have their place in human experience, but when improving mental toughness through key is to stay in balance and not make logical and emotional decisions disproportionate to what makes sense.
For instance, using logic all the time may steal from those exciting, spontaneous moments in life, while working regularly from an emotional mindset can lead to regrettable, well-thought-out decisions that actually create additional problems or compound the ones we already have.
Logic and emotion are on opposite sides of the continuum, meaning that we cannot experience both at the same time, and we may tip in one direction over the other at any given point in the day. I might start my day with an emotional decision by purchasing the latest “fancy” coffee drink when I go out to coffee with my friends, even though I do not welcome the extra calories. Later in the day I might use my logical brain to work through a mini-vacation that includes schedules and logical challenges to stay within budget.
There is a time and place for both logic and emotion to be employed, and when we get it right good things usually follow. The problem is when we use the wrong mindset for a situation.
When we allow emotion to rule in our decision-making there is the potential to cause what I call the “roller coaster effect,” which involves extreme and sudden changes in emotions, such as feeling excited, happy, exhilarated one moment, and then sad, disappointed and desperate the next. It can feel like a repeated pattern of panic and heaviness or shutdown. We can learn to build mental toughness and how to use logic and emotion at the appropriate times.
Unlike robots, human beings have the capacity to both think and feel, allowing us to use logic when we need to problem-solve and emotions when feeling the effects of a specific outcome.
From Pity to Praise 