June 24, 2025 • 24 mins
We explore the transformative power of state change and how mastering your emotional state can dramatically improve your quality of life and effectiveness in any situation.
• Your state is the sum of your emotions and physiology at any given moment — it dictates how you experience reality
• When in a resourceful state, you're more creative, resilient, and likely to take positive action
• Success is 80% psychology and 20% mechanics according to Tony Robbins
• The state change triad consists of three interconnected levers: physiology, focus, and language
• Physiology is the fastest way to change your state — emotion is created by motion
• Simple physical changes like posture, breathing patterns, and movement can rapidly shift your emotional state
• Focus determines feelings — asking empowering questions redirects your brain toward constructive solutions
• Language shapes your experience — transformational vocabulary can intensify or diminish emotional responses
• Incantations (emotionally charged affirmations with congruent physiology) create powerful state changes
• This isn't about toxic positivity — it's about taking responsibility for your emotional state after acknowledging feelings
• Research shows power poses increase testosterone and decrease cortisol, creating biochemical confidence
Take a moment this week to practice the triad approach whenever you find yourself in a negative state. Change your physiology, shift your focus, and transform your language to take back control of how you feel.
We would love to hear your feedback! Click here to tell us what you think.
https://sagesolutions.buzzsprout.com
If you are interested in one-on-one coaching, email us at:
sagecoachingsolutions@gmail.com
**Legal Disclaimer**
The Sage Solutions Podcast and content posted by David Sage is presented solely for general informational, educational, and entertainment purposes. No coaching client relationship is formed by listening to this podcast. No Legal, Medical or Financial advice is being given. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast or website is at the user's own risk. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice, diagnosis, or treatment of a psychotherapist, physician, professional coach, Lawyer or other qualified professional. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical or mental health condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their healthcare professionals for any such conditions. The opinions of guests are their own and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of the podcast.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the Sage Solutions Podcast, where we talk
about all things personalgrowth, personal development and
becoming your best self.
My name is David Sage and I ama self-worth and confidence
coach at Sage Coaching Solutions.
Today's topic is one that I'vebeen excited to do for quite a
(00:26):
while now.
It's about identifying thestate that we're in and
exercising our ability to changethat state.
I mean, look, we've all beenthere, right?
We wake up on the wrong side ofthe bed and it feels like the
entire day is just a write-off.
Or maybe you're about to walkinto a crucial meeting and your
(00:49):
heart is pounding with anxiety,whether you're an entrepreneur
or an employee.
Maybe you're staring at a majorsetback, a setback that is
going to be a huge problem foryour job or business, and the
weight of it just feels crushing, making you just want to give
up.
It's in those moments that itcan feel like you're the victim
(01:10):
of your emotions, like a shipthat's being tossed on the waves
of circumstance.
But what if I told you you havethe power to shift how you feel
emotionally and physically inas little as a matter of seconds
?
What if you could be thecaptain of the ship, able to
(01:31):
steer it through any storm.
What I'm talking about isn'tjust wishful thinking.
It's a real skill, a skill thatcan be built just like any
other skill.
And, as we've talked aboutbefore, your life is like a
muscle you have to activelyexercise, work on and use that
(01:53):
muscle or skill to build it upand maintain it over time.
Otherwise you let it fatigue.
But before we get into it, ourgoal with this podcast is to
share free, helpful tools withyou and anyone you know who is
looking to improve their life.
(02:14):
So take action, subscribe andshare this podcast with them.
So today we're going to breakdown the strategies that help
you become the master of youremotional and physiological
state, drawing heavily from thework of the master of state
change himself, tony Robbins.
(02:35):
So if you are ready to stopletting your emotions run the
show and you're ready to takecontrol of your life, taking
back the ultimate agency, thenyou're in the right place.
Welcome to the power of statechange.
But before we get into the how,let's talk about the why.
(02:57):
Your state is the sum of youremotions and your physiology at
any given moment.
It's really the lens throughwhich you experience the world.
That's right.
Your current state is one ofthe biggest drivers of your
perspective of reality,especially when you're not being
(03:18):
conscious about it.
It dictates the quality of yourlife when you think about it,
the quality of yourrelationships, your career, your
health.
It all comes down to theemotional states that you live
in most consistently, becausewhen you're in an off state,
when your nervous system isdysregulated, you don't show up
(03:40):
in the way that you want.
To Hell, I know, I don't.
But when you're in a resourcefulstate, a powerful state,
feeling confident, happy,determined and energized, you're
more creative, you're moreresilient and you're more likely
to take positive, massiveactions.
You find solutions, you connectwith people, you solve problems
(04:03):
, you see opportunities whereother people see obstacles.
When you're in an unresourcefulstate, feeling overwhelmed,
fearful, angry or lethargic, theopposite is true.
The world's challenges justseem so big and insurmountable.
The very same problem thatwould look like a fun challenge
(04:25):
in this positive, resourcefulstate looks like an impossible
mountain when you're in anegative, poor state.
Tony Robbins, the incrediblemotivational teacher, often says
success is 80% psychology and20% mechanics.
You can have the best strategyin the world or the mechanics,
(04:49):
the best business plan, theperfect diet, the most effective
communication technique, but ifyou're in a lousy state, you
won't use it, or if you do,you'll use it poorly.
That's why mastering your stateis easily one of the most
critical skills that you candevelop.
It's one of the majorfoundations upon which all other
(05:09):
success is built.
As we talked about in aprevious episode, your thoughts,
even if they're justobservational about your life,
tend to generate emotionssurrounding those thoughts.
Emotions surrounding thosethoughts and those emotions tend
to be the major drivers of ourdecisions and actions, whether
(05:30):
we realize it or not.
Many times that we think we'remaking a logical decision, it's
just that logic and emotions arelining up.
We are making a decision basedon an emotion that is driving us
to take action and then,backwards, rationalizing it with
logic.
This means that taking controlof our emotional state, of our
(05:51):
major driver of the actions anddecisions that we make in our
lives, makes it a super muscle,kind of like grit, and one of
the most useful tools in ourtoolkit.
So how do we do it?
How do we take consciouscontrol?
Tony teaches us a powerful andbrilliantly simple framework
called the triad.
(06:13):
I want you to imagine atriangle with three points.
At each point is a lever, alever that you can pull to
instantly change your state.
These three levers areinterconnected.
Change one and you influencethe other two.
Those three levers arephysiology, focus and language.
(06:37):
Let's break them down.
Physiology Make your body yourally.
Physiology is the quickest andoften most effective way to
change your state.
We've talked about how emotionsare the major drivers of action
, but what's interesting is thatit's a two-way street.
(06:57):
Your physical actions or youremotions can also drive your
emotions, which means emotion iscreated by motion.
Your physiology and youremotions are intrinsically
linked through this two-waystreet of biochemical signals.
(07:18):
Think back when you feeldepressed or even just sad, how
do you typically hold your body?
Your shoulders are likelyslumped, your head is down, your
breathing is shallow, yourfacial muscles are slack.
You tend to be looking down.
It's a universal posture ofdefeat.
(07:38):
Now picture someone who'secstatic.
Their head is up, their chestis open, they're breathing
deeply, they're probably movingwith energy.
Their eyes are wide open,they're smiling, they're taking
up space and they're probablymoving with energy.
The problem is, most of us areway too comfortable only ever
(07:58):
driving one direction down thistwo-way street.
You can't just wait to feel goodto change your posture.
You can change your posture tostart to feel good Right now, as
you're listening, I want you totry something.
Stand up, if you can.
If not, just sit up straight,pull your shoulders back, lift
(08:20):
your chest.
Lift your chest and put a biggoofy grin on that face.
Now take a deep, powerfulbreath in, fill your belly and
exhale a loud ecstatic yes, now.
(08:41):
Hold that posture, look up tothe sky and after 10 seconds,
yeah, go on, I'll wait.
Do you feel a little different?
Even a small shift in yourphysiology sends a powerful
signal to your brain to changeyour emotional state.
(09:05):
Now I'm not promising anoverwhelming 100% wave of change
that's going to make you feel100 percent different in 10
seconds.
By doing this, let's set somerealistic expectations here, and
if you've never done somethinglike this before, it's going to
feel weird and foreign, justlike the first time you drove.
(09:29):
Since we're using this two-waystreet metaphor, you're not
going to be good at it the firsttime that you do it, and it's
not going to be as easy andseamless as once.
You can drive on autopilot, buteven a small shift in your
physiology can send a powerfulsignal to your brain to change
your emotional state.
(09:50):
So the next time that you feela wave of negativity.
Make a radical change to yourphysiology.
Jump up and down, do some quickpush-ups, go for a brisk walk
or even try a power pose whichis standing with your feet apart
and your hands on your hipslike a superhero for two minutes
.
The more that you change yourphysiology, both physically
(10:13):
through motion, more that youchange your physiology both
physically through motion, butalso things like heart rate,
temperature, comfort level andvisual surroundings, the more it
disrupts your current emotionalstate.
This is why putting somethingcold on your face or, even
better, on the back of your neckright along the vagus nerve,
can have a physiologicalresponse that both distracts you
(10:36):
from the emotional state andshocks you out of it.
At the same time, the coolfeeling will also calm your
nervous system and change yourheart rate.
Another powerful tool is yourbreath.
When you're stressed, you takeshort, shallow breaths To
instantly calm your nervoussystem.
Try box breathing Inhale for acount of four, hold for four,
(10:59):
exhale for a count of four andhold for another four or
whatever breathing techniquesuits you best.
If you repeat any of thesebreathing techniques four or
five times, you'll find that youfeel a profound sense of calm.
If you're looking for apick-me-up, you can temporarily
increase your rate of breathingthrough big, non-shallow breaths
(11:21):
to start to feel a well ofenergy.
Another way to shift youremotional state is to see
something funny or havesomething scare you.
Both of these often change yourheart rate.
Both of these often change yourheart rate If you go to take a
walk.
The change in temperature,atmosphere, smells, lighting,
(11:45):
the view of nature, the freshair on your face, the visual
cues of movement all around you,the sight of the horizon or
large buildings or even animals,the physical movement of
walking all of these can helpshift your emotional state.
And the true power comes fromcombining them.
And, like any other muscle, themore that you pull this lever,
(12:06):
the stronger the response willbecome.
And when you add in a placeboeffect and no, I'm not saying
that this only works because ofa placebo effect, but when you
believe in something, you'respreading a layer of placebo
effect on top of it, amplifyingits power even more.
And this isn't just anecdotal,nor is it placebo.
(12:29):
There's a whole body ofresearch supporting the two-way
street of physiology andemotional state.
A fascinating study publishedin the Journal of Psychological
Science by researchers Amy Cuddy, dana Carney and Andy Yap found
that holding expansivehigh-power poses for just a
couple of minutes increasedparticipants' levels of
(12:52):
testosterone and it decreasedtheir levels of cortisol, the
stress hormone.
This simple physiologicalchange led to them feeling more
powerful and being more willingto take risks.
Your biology is not your destiny.
It is your resource.
Move your body and you canchange your mind.
(13:13):
The second lever is focus.
What you focus on expands.
So choose your focus wisely andfocus on your locus of control,
because whatever you focus on,you will feel Period.
If you constantly focus onwhat's wrong in your life, the
(13:35):
bills you have to pay, theargument you had with a friend,
the things you can't control,you're going to feel stressed
and overwhelmed because yourbrain will deliver evidence to
support that reality.
Remember, our perspective ofreality shapes our experience of
reality.
Tony often says what's wrong isalways available, but so is
(13:58):
what's right.
You have the power toconsciously direct your focus to
focus on your locus of control,to take control of your
conscious perspective of reality.
A simple way to do this is toask yourself empowering
questions.
Your brain is like a searchengine.
It will find answers towhatever questions you ask it,
(14:21):
instead of constantly askingdisempowering questions like why
does this always happen to meor why am I not enough?
Which only finds reasons foryou to feel like a victim.
Ask empowering questions likewhat can I learn from this?
How can I make this work?
What's one thing I can do rightnow to make this better?
(14:44):
What's great about thissituation that I'm not seeing?
What can I control?
What are some other ways oflooking at this?
What am I grateful for?
A powerful practice is to starta daily gratitude journal.
Every morning or evening, writedown three things that you're
(15:05):
grateful for.
This trains your brain toactively seek out the positive
things in your life, shiftingyour default focus and, in turn,
your emotional home base.
We've talked about emotionalhome, or your emotional comfort
zone, in previous episodes.
Shifting it can be a verypowerful transition.
(15:26):
Another pro tip here is toshift from a problem focus to an
outcome focus.
Instead of dwelling on theproblem and all its intricacies,
we can define the outcome thatwe want.
We can focus all of our mentalenergy on how to achieve that
outcome and the actions that weneed to take to make it a
(15:47):
reality.
It's a subtle but game-changingshift from being stuck to being
in motion.
In action, and remember, motioncreates emotion.
The final lever is language.
The words you use, both out loudand in your internal dialogue,
(16:08):
your self-talk, have a profoundimpact on how you feel, have a
profound impact on how you feel.
They are the labels you assignto your experiences, and these
labels can either intensify orsoften your emotional response.
If you constantly say I'm sostressed, this is a disaster,
(16:31):
I'm furious or I'm pissed off,your brain will take those as
commands and create thecorresponding emotional state.
You literally talk yourselfinto a state of suffering.
Thoughts lead to emotions.
Emotions then lead to actionsor inaction.
But what if you changed yourlanguage?
What if, instead of saying I'mfurious, you said I'm a little
(16:54):
annoyed?
Or instead of I'm overwhelmed,you tried, I'm pretty busy or
I'm in high demand?
The intensity of emotionimmediately diminishes.
Remember, our brains primarilymake sense of the world through
stories, and the language thatwe use shapes the stories that
(17:18):
we tell.
Tony Robbins calls thistransformational vocabulary.
By consciously choosing lessemotionally charged words, you
can dial down the negativefeelings and maintain a more
helpful state.
Even more powerful than justchanging your words is the
(17:38):
practice of incantations.
These are not yourgrandmother's quiet, passive
affirmations.
These are positive affirmationsthat you say with emotional
intensity and, if you want themto really work, congruent
physiology.
In this example, we are pullingtwo levers simultaneously to
(18:00):
supercharge the impact.
You engage your entire nervoussystem.
So in this example, instead ofjust meekly saying I am
confident, you would stand tall,put your hands on your hips or
beat your chest and declare withpassion and volume I am a force
to be reckoned with, I haveunshakable confidence.
(18:21):
By engaging your body and youremotions, you're not just saying
it, you're embodying it.
You're literally forging newneurological pathways,
conditioning your mind and yourbody for a new reality.
So here's my challenge to youthis week I don't want you to
(18:41):
just be a passive listener.
I want you to be a practitioner.
The next time you find yourselfin a negative or unhelpful
state and you will, becauseyou're human don't stay there.
Don't set up camp in thatnegative space.
Don't give up all of youragency.
I want you to run a quick triadcheck.
(19:03):
Look at your three levers.
First, radically change yourphysiology with whatever
combination works best for you.
Change your breathing, changeyour physical state, change your
posture, get some movement,possibly change your temperature
.
Get your heart rate up.
Do 10 jumping jacks, go, splashcold water on your face, put on
(19:25):
your favorite song and dancewildly for 60 seconds, whatever
it takes to break up thatphysical pattern.
Second, shift your focus.
Ask yourself what am I gratefulfor right now?
Focus your brain to find adifferent target.
Take control of yourperspective of reality.
Focus on your locus of control.
(19:45):
What could be funny about thissituation?
And third, change your language.
Catch the negative words you'reusing and consciously swap them
for something better.
Remember you are theconsciousness experiencing your
life.
You're not every thought thatpops into it.
You can take control of thatvoice and if it seems like it
(20:09):
keeps saying things you don'tlike, then say it verbally, say
it out loud.
One of the best ways tointerrupt negative self-talk is
to use your agency to not justhijack that voice and say it in
your head, but to say it outloud.
You can't simultaneously thinkone thing while saying another.
Very well, it tends to drownout that inner voice if you say
(20:33):
the things you want out loud.
So when you make that languageswap, you can use what Tony
calls a powerful incantation.
Yell it in your car.
Make sure that what you'resaying lines up with your
physiology.
I am in control of my state andI choose to feel amazing.
I am not just a passenger, I amthe driver.
(20:53):
Now, this might feel a littlesilly at first but, like I said,
when you first started drivingit felt foreign as well.
This is a two-way street andyou're used to only going one
way.
It's gonna feel a little weirdat first, but the more you
practice, the more it becomes anautomatic, unconscious skill.
(21:14):
You are building the muscle and, like any muscle, it requires
repetition To leave you with apowerful thought.
On this topic, I want to share aquote from the brilliant writer
and philosopher Aldous Huxley.
He said there is only onecorner of the universe you can
(21:35):
be certain of improving, andthat's your own self.
And the first and most crucialstep in improving yourself is
mastering the world within.
Your internal world createsyour external world.
Master your state and you willbegin to master your life.
Now just to give some extrashades of gray here sometimes
(22:01):
you're going to have events inyour life that are
overwhelmingly negative, and I'mnot saying that there is never
a place for a negative state,because what I'm not advocating
for here is toxic positivity.
It's unrealistic to holdyourself to being in a helpful
or positive state at all times.
(22:22):
It's human to let yourself feelemotions, and shaming yourself
or others for not always beinghappy and positive is not
healthy and it's activelydestructive.
However, on the flip side,don't just use this as a
justification to never takeresponsibility for your state
(22:42):
and give up your agency wheneveryou feel this way.
But if you've just went througha major loss or something
really, really hard justhappened, sometimes you just
need to take a mindful momentand let yourself feel.
Be there with your emotions.
Don't just suppress them.
You can give yourself a minuteto feel them, but after you've
(23:05):
given yourself a reasonableamount of time to feel these
things whatever they are, that'swhen we take control.
That's our opportunity to stilluse these tools, to take
control of our consciousperspective, to pull these
levers and to change ouremotional state.
You hold the key to your ownstate.
(23:28):
Use it wisely, use it often andcreate a beautiful life.
And remember you are enough andyou deserve to fill up your
(23:49):
inner cup with happiness,confidence and self-compassion.
Thank you for listening to theSage Solutions Podcast.
Your time is valuable and I'mso glad you choose to learn and
grow here with me.
We'd love to hear your feedback, so click the link in the
description and let us know whatyou think.
If you haven't already, don'tforget to subscribe so you don't
(24:11):
miss out on more sage advice.
One last thing the legallanguage.
This podcast is for educationaland informational purposes only
.
No coaching client relationshipis formed.
It is not intended as asubstitute for the personalized
(24:32):
advice of a physician,professional coach,
psychotherapist or otherqualified professional.
Welcome to the Sage Solutions Podcast, where we talk
about all things personalgrowth, personal development and
becoming your best self.
My name is David Sage and I ama self-worth and confidence
coach at Sage Coaching Solutions.
Today's topic is one that I'vebeen excited to do for quite a
(00:26):
while now.
It's about identifying thestate that we're in and
exercising our ability to changethat state.
I mean, look, we've all beenthere, right?
We wake up on the wrong side ofthe bed and it feels like the
entire day is just a write-off.
Or maybe you're about to walkinto a crucial meeting and your
(00:49):
heart is pounding with anxiety,whether you're an entrepreneur
or an employee.
Maybe you're staring at a majorsetback, a setback that is
going to be a huge problem foryour job or business, and the
weight of it just feels crushing, making you just want to give
up.
It's in those moments that itcan feel like you're the victim
(01:10):
of your emotions, like a shipthat's being tossed on the waves
of circumstance.
But what if I told you you havethe power to shift how you feel
emotionally and physically inas little as a matter of seconds
?
What if you could be thecaptain of the ship, able to
(01:31):
steer it through any storm.
What I'm talking about isn'tjust wishful thinking.
It's a real skill, a skill thatcan be built just like any
other skill.
And, as we've talked aboutbefore, your life is like a
muscle you have to activelyexercise, work on and use that
(01:53):
muscle or skill to build it upand maintain it over time.
Otherwise you let it fatigue.
But before we get into it, ourgoal with this podcast is to
share free, helpful tools withyou and anyone you know who is
looking to improve their life.
(02:14):
So take action, subscribe andshare this podcast with them.
So today we're going to breakdown the strategies that help
you become the master of youremotional and physiological
state, drawing heavily from thework of the master of state
change himself, tony Robbins.
(02:35):
So if you are ready to stopletting your emotions run the
show and you're ready to takecontrol of your life, taking
back the ultimate agency, thenyou're in the right place.
Welcome to the power of statechange.
But before we get into the how,let's talk about the why.
(02:57):
Your state is the sum of youremotions and your physiology at
any given moment.
It's really the lens throughwhich you experience the world.
That's right.
Your current state is one ofthe biggest drivers of your
perspective of reality,especially when you're not being
(03:18):
conscious about it.
It dictates the quality of yourlife when you think about it,
the quality of yourrelationships, your career, your
health.
It all comes down to theemotional states that you live
in most consistently, becausewhen you're in an off state,
when your nervous system isdysregulated, you don't show up
(03:40):
in the way that you want.
To Hell, I know, I don't.
But when you're in a resourcefulstate, a powerful state,
feeling confident, happy,determined and energized, you're
more creative, you're moreresilient and you're more likely
to take positive, massiveactions.
You find solutions, you connectwith people, you solve problems
(04:03):
, you see opportunities whereother people see obstacles.
When you're in an unresourcefulstate, feeling overwhelmed,
fearful, angry or lethargic, theopposite is true.
The world's challenges justseem so big and insurmountable.
The very same problem thatwould look like a fun challenge
(04:25):
in this positive, resourcefulstate looks like an impossible
mountain when you're in anegative, poor state.
Tony Robbins, the incrediblemotivational teacher, often says
success is 80% psychology and20% mechanics.
You can have the best strategyin the world or the mechanics,
(04:49):
the best business plan, theperfect diet, the most effective
communication technique, but ifyou're in a lousy state, you
won't use it, or if you do,you'll use it poorly.
That's why mastering your stateis easily one of the most
critical skills that you candevelop.
It's one of the majorfoundations upon which all other
(05:09):
success is built.
As we talked about in aprevious episode, your thoughts,
even if they're justobservational about your life,
tend to generate emotionssurrounding those thoughts.
Emotions surrounding thosethoughts and those emotions tend
to be the major drivers of ourdecisions and actions, whether
(05:30):
we realize it or not.
Many times that we think we'remaking a logical decision, it's
just that logic and emotions arelining up.
We are making a decision basedon an emotion that is driving us
to take action and then,backwards, rationalizing it with
logic.
This means that taking controlof our emotional state, of our
(05:51):
major driver of the actions anddecisions that we make in our
lives, makes it a super muscle,kind of like grit, and one of
the most useful tools in ourtoolkit.
So how do we do it?
How do we take consciouscontrol?
Tony teaches us a powerful andbrilliantly simple framework
called the triad.
(06:13):
I want you to imagine atriangle with three points.
At each point is a lever, alever that you can pull to
instantly change your state.
These three levers areinterconnected.
Change one and you influencethe other two.
Those three levers arephysiology, focus and language.
(06:37):
Let's break them down.
Physiology Make your body yourally.
Physiology is the quickest andoften most effective way to
change your state.
We've talked about how emotionsare the major drivers of action
, but what's interesting is thatit's a two-way street.
(06:57):
Your physical actions or youremotions can also drive your
emotions, which means emotion iscreated by motion.
Your physiology and youremotions are intrinsically
linked through this two-waystreet of biochemical signals.
(07:18):
Think back when you feeldepressed or even just sad, how
do you typically hold your body?
Your shoulders are likelyslumped, your head is down, your
breathing is shallow, yourfacial muscles are slack.
You tend to be looking down.
It's a universal posture ofdefeat.
(07:38):
Now picture someone who'secstatic.
Their head is up, their chestis open, they're breathing
deeply, they're probably movingwith energy.
Their eyes are wide open,they're smiling, they're taking
up space and they're probablymoving with energy.
The problem is, most of us areway too comfortable only ever
(07:58):
driving one direction down thistwo-way street.
You can't just wait to feel goodto change your posture.
You can change your posture tostart to feel good Right now, as
you're listening, I want you totry something.
Stand up, if you can.
If not, just sit up straight,pull your shoulders back, lift
(08:20):
your chest.
Lift your chest and put a biggoofy grin on that face.
Now take a deep, powerfulbreath in, fill your belly and
exhale a loud ecstatic yes, now.
(08:41):
Hold that posture, look up tothe sky and after 10 seconds,
yeah, go on, I'll wait.
Do you feel a little different?
Even a small shift in yourphysiology sends a powerful
signal to your brain to changeyour emotional state.
(09:05):
Now I'm not promising anoverwhelming 100% wave of change
that's going to make you feel100 percent different in 10
seconds.
By doing this, let's set somerealistic expectations here, and
if you've never done somethinglike this before, it's going to
feel weird and foreign, justlike the first time you drove.
(09:29):
Since we're using this two-waystreet metaphor, you're not
going to be good at it the firsttime that you do it, and it's
not going to be as easy andseamless as once.
You can drive on autopilot, buteven a small shift in your
physiology can send a powerfulsignal to your brain to change
your emotional state.
(09:50):
So the next time that you feela wave of negativity.
Make a radical change to yourphysiology.
Jump up and down, do some quickpush-ups, go for a brisk walk
or even try a power pose whichis standing with your feet apart
and your hands on your hipslike a superhero for two minutes
.
The more that you change yourphysiology, both physically
(10:13):
through motion, more that youchange your physiology both
physically through motion, butalso things like heart rate,
temperature, comfort level andvisual surroundings, the more it
disrupts your current emotionalstate.
This is why putting somethingcold on your face or, even
better, on the back of your neckright along the vagus nerve,
can have a physiologicalresponse that both distracts you
(10:36):
from the emotional state andshocks you out of it.
At the same time, the coolfeeling will also calm your
nervous system and change yourheart rate.
Another powerful tool is yourbreath.
When you're stressed, you takeshort, shallow breaths To
instantly calm your nervoussystem.
Try box breathing Inhale for acount of four, hold for four,
(10:59):
exhale for a count of four andhold for another four or
whatever breathing techniquesuits you best.
If you repeat any of thesebreathing techniques four or
five times, you'll find that youfeel a profound sense of calm.
If you're looking for apick-me-up, you can temporarily
increase your rate of breathingthrough big, non-shallow breaths
(11:21):
to start to feel a well ofenergy.
Another way to shift youremotional state is to see
something funny or havesomething scare you.
Both of these often change yourheart rate.
Both of these often change yourheart rate If you go to take a
walk.
The change in temperature,atmosphere, smells, lighting,
(11:45):
the view of nature, the freshair on your face, the visual
cues of movement all around you,the sight of the horizon or
large buildings or even animals,the physical movement of
walking all of these can helpshift your emotional state.
And the true power comes fromcombining them.
And, like any other muscle, themore that you pull this lever,
(12:06):
the stronger the response willbecome.
And when you add in a placeboeffect and no, I'm not saying
that this only works because ofa placebo effect, but when you
believe in something, you'respreading a layer of placebo
effect on top of it, amplifyingits power even more.
And this isn't just anecdotal,nor is it placebo.
(12:29):
There's a whole body ofresearch supporting the two-way
street of physiology andemotional state.
A fascinating study publishedin the Journal of Psychological
Science by researchers Amy Cuddy, dana Carney and Andy Yap found
that holding expansivehigh-power poses for just a
couple of minutes increasedparticipants' levels of
(12:52):
testosterone and it decreasedtheir levels of cortisol, the
stress hormone.
This simple physiologicalchange led to them feeling more
powerful and being more willingto take risks.
Your biology is not your destiny.
It is your resource.
Move your body and you canchange your mind.
(13:13):
The second lever is focus.
What you focus on expands.
So choose your focus wisely andfocus on your locus of control,
because whatever you focus on,you will feel Period.
If you constantly focus onwhat's wrong in your life, the
(13:35):
bills you have to pay, theargument you had with a friend,
the things you can't control,you're going to feel stressed
and overwhelmed because yourbrain will deliver evidence to
support that reality.
Remember, our perspective ofreality shapes our experience of
reality.
Tony often says what's wrong isalways available, but so is
(13:58):
what's right.
You have the power toconsciously direct your focus to
focus on your locus of control,to take control of your
conscious perspective of reality.
A simple way to do this is toask yourself empowering
questions.
Your brain is like a searchengine.
It will find answers towhatever questions you ask it,
(14:21):
instead of constantly askingdisempowering questions like why
does this always happen to meor why am I not enough?
Which only finds reasons foryou to feel like a victim.
Ask empowering questions likewhat can I learn from this?
How can I make this work?
What's one thing I can do rightnow to make this better?
(14:44):
What's great about thissituation that I'm not seeing?
What can I control?
What are some other ways oflooking at this?
What am I grateful for?
A powerful practice is to starta daily gratitude journal.
Every morning or evening, writedown three things that you're
(15:05):
grateful for.
This trains your brain toactively seek out the positive
things in your life, shiftingyour default focus and, in turn,
your emotional home base.
We've talked about emotionalhome, or your emotional comfort
zone, in previous episodes.
Shifting it can be a verypowerful transition.
(15:26):
Another pro tip here is toshift from a problem focus to an
outcome focus.
Instead of dwelling on theproblem and all its intricacies,
we can define the outcome thatwe want.
We can focus all of our mentalenergy on how to achieve that
outcome and the actions that weneed to take to make it a
(15:47):
reality.
It's a subtle but game-changingshift from being stuck to being
in motion.
In action, and remember, motioncreates emotion.
The final lever is language.
The words you use, both out loudand in your internal dialogue,
(16:08):
your self-talk, have a profoundimpact on how you feel, have a
profound impact on how you feel.
They are the labels you assignto your experiences, and these
labels can either intensify orsoften your emotional response.
If you constantly say I'm sostressed, this is a disaster,
(16:31):
I'm furious or I'm pissed off,your brain will take those as
commands and create thecorresponding emotional state.
You literally talk yourselfinto a state of suffering.
Thoughts lead to emotions.
Emotions then lead to actionsor inaction.
But what if you changed yourlanguage?
What if, instead of saying I'mfurious, you said I'm a little
(16:54):
annoyed?
Or instead of I'm overwhelmed,you tried, I'm pretty busy or
I'm in high demand?
The intensity of emotionimmediately diminishes.
Remember, our brains primarilymake sense of the world through
stories, and the language thatwe use shapes the stories that
(17:18):
we tell.
Tony Robbins calls thistransformational vocabulary.
By consciously choosing lessemotionally charged words, you
can dial down the negativefeelings and maintain a more
helpful state.
Even more powerful than justchanging your words is the
(17:38):
practice of incantations.
These are not yourgrandmother's quiet, passive
affirmations.
These are positive affirmationsthat you say with emotional
intensity and, if you want themto really work, congruent
physiology.
In this example, we are pullingtwo levers simultaneously to
(18:00):
supercharge the impact.
You engage your entire nervoussystem.
So in this example, instead ofjust meekly saying I am
confident, you would stand tall,put your hands on your hips or
beat your chest and declare withpassion and volume I am a force
to be reckoned with, I haveunshakable confidence.
(18:21):
By engaging your body and youremotions, you're not just saying
it, you're embodying it.
You're literally forging newneurological pathways,
conditioning your mind and yourbody for a new reality.
So here's my challenge to youthis week I don't want you to
(18:41):
just be a passive listener.
I want you to be a practitioner.
The next time you find yourselfin a negative or unhelpful
state and you will, becauseyou're human don't stay there.
Don't set up camp in thatnegative space.
Don't give up all of youragency.
I want you to run a quick triadcheck.
(19:03):
Look at your three levers.
First, radically change yourphysiology with whatever
combination works best for you.
Change your breathing, changeyour physical state, change your
posture, get some movement,possibly change your temperature
.
Get your heart rate up.
Do 10 jumping jacks, go, splashcold water on your face, put on
(19:25):
your favorite song and dancewildly for 60 seconds, whatever
it takes to break up thatphysical pattern.
Second, shift your focus.
Ask yourself what am I gratefulfor right now?
Focus your brain to find adifferent target.
Take control of yourperspective of reality.
Focus on your locus of control.
(19:45):
What could be funny about thissituation?
And third, change your language.
Catch the negative words you'reusing and consciously swap them
for something better.
Remember you are theconsciousness experiencing your
life.
You're not every thought thatpops into it.
You can take control of thatvoice and if it seems like it
(20:09):
keeps saying things you don'tlike, then say it verbally, say
it out loud.
One of the best ways tointerrupt negative self-talk is
to use your agency to not justhijack that voice and say it in
your head, but to say it outloud.
You can't simultaneously thinkone thing while saying another.
Very well, it tends to drownout that inner voice if you say
(20:33):
the things you want out loud.
So when you make that languageswap, you can use what Tony
calls a powerful incantation.
Yell it in your car.
Make sure that what you'resaying lines up with your
physiology.
I am in control of my state andI choose to feel amazing.
I am not just a passenger, I amthe driver.
(20:53):
Now, this might feel a littlesilly at first but, like I said,
when you first started drivingit felt foreign as well.
This is a two-way street andyou're used to only going one
way.
It's gonna feel a little weirdat first, but the more you
practice, the more it becomes anautomatic, unconscious skill.
(21:14):
You are building the muscle and, like any muscle, it requires
repetition To leave you with apowerful thought.
On this topic, I want to share aquote from the brilliant writer
and philosopher Aldous Huxley.
He said there is only onecorner of the universe you can
(21:35):
be certain of improving, andthat's your own self.
And the first and most crucialstep in improving yourself is
mastering the world within.
Your internal world createsyour external world.
Master your state and you willbegin to master your life.
Now just to give some extrashades of gray here sometimes
(22:01):
you're going to have events inyour life that are
overwhelmingly negative, and I'mnot saying that there is never
a place for a negative state,because what I'm not advocating
for here is toxic positivity.
It's unrealistic to holdyourself to being in a helpful
or positive state at all times.
(22:22):
It's human to let yourself feelemotions, and shaming yourself
or others for not always beinghappy and positive is not
healthy and it's activelydestructive.
However, on the flip side,don't just use this as a
justification to never takeresponsibility for your state
(22:42):
and give up your agency wheneveryou feel this way.
But if you've just went througha major loss or something
really, really hard justhappened, sometimes you just
need to take a mindful momentand let yourself feel.
Be there with your emotions.
Don't just suppress them.
You can give yourself a minuteto feel them, but after you've
(23:05):
given yourself a reasonableamount of time to feel these
things whatever they are, that'swhen we take control.
That's our opportunity to stilluse these tools, to take
control of our consciousperspective, to pull these
levers and to change ouremotional state.
You hold the key to your ownstate.
(23:28):
Use it wisely, use it often andcreate a beautiful life.
And remember you are enough andyou deserve to fill up your
(23:49):
inner cup with happiness,confidence and self-compassion.
Thank you for listening to theSage Solutions Podcast.
Your time is valuable and I'mso glad you choose to learn and
grow here with me.
We'd love to hear your feedback, so click the link in the
description and let us know whatyou think.
If you haven't already, don'tforget to subscribe so you don't
(24:11):
miss out on more sage advice.
One last thing the legallanguage.
This podcast is for educationaland informational purposes only
.
No coaching client relationshipis formed.
It is not intended as asubstitute for the personalized
(24:32):
advice of a physician,professional coach,
psychotherapist or otherqualified professional.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.