The Biggest Impact on How You Feel About an Experience

What determines how you feel about an experience or an event?

Here is a sampling of comments I’ve heard people say in recent months.

Lockdown is a nightmare.

I’m literally jammed this week and have no time.

I’m so busy.

I’m so exhausted.

That was a horrendous experience.

I’m feeling anxious.

In full disclosure, I’ve even said some of them (not the busy one).

The biggest determinant of how we feel about an experience is the language we use to describe it. The moment we put words to something we give it a meaning, which shapes how we feel as well as what we remember about the experience.

Is lockdown a nightmare or just a minor inconvenience?

Are you literally jammed or just over scheduled?

What feels different if instead of busy you simply have a full schedule?

How can you turn a horrendous experience into an adventure?

What’s the difference between anxious and anticipation?

Sometimes the best way to improve how we feel about something is to change the way we speak about it.

After all, a nightmare is just a dream.