Key Takeaways

Here are the main ideas in this course:

1. There are two ways to live when it comes to emotions: You either live in “beautiful states” easily and often, with an understanding and mastery of your emotions, or you don’t. Ultimately, it’s a choice to live either way, and if you don’t consciously choose to live the first way, you are in effect making the choice to live the second way.
2. All human behavior is driven by emotion. At a very basic level, everything we do comes down to seeking pleasure or avoiding pain.
3. Every emotion is available in every moment, and nothing outside of you has to happen for you to feel any given emotion.
4. Every emotion has its own recipe or signature (and its own message).
5. You are completely responsible for your emotions and your experience of life.

Completing this course can help you:

1. Learn how to use your emotions effectively to help yourself achieve your desired outcomes as easily and enjoyably as possible, with the least amount of stress or willpower.
2. Learn how to decode or reverse-engineer your emotions’ recipes, signatures, and messages.
3. Learn how to create – or at least move closer to – the emotions you prefer upon demand.
4. Go beyond thinking of emotions as either positive or negative – every emotion is natural and human – and instead think of emotions in a variety of other ways.
5. Gain a new or deeper understanding of and respect for the awesome power that emotion plays in our lives.

Word to the Wise

I recommend giving yourself at least 150 minutes to complete this course.

This course covers quite a bit of ground, and you might find some of it challenging. Remember Jung’s words: “People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own soul. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”

If you find yourself experiencing any kind of internal resistance to keep going, either just keep going, or take a break and then keep going. But keep going. And be sure to complete the activities and answer the questions! Remember the ground rule: Show Up, Tell the Truth, Do the Work.

If all that was required for growth, insight or transformation was more information, I’d just verify that your internet connection is working and wish you good luck. You will get the most benefit from this material when you actually do the work. If it’s helpful, know that by doing the work and sharing your presence, knowledge, talents and experience with me and the other participants, you are contributing to something greater than yourself. You might not lead a Salt March like Gandhi, but you can share your presence, knowledge, talents and experience with others!

Okay, let’s jump in.