Mood Meter
The Mood Meter is a tool that was developed by the Yale Centre for Emotional Intelligence in the United States. It helps us to recognize and to understand our own emotions and feelings better.
The Mood Meter contains four coloured quadrants – red, blue, green and yellow, each containing a different set of feelings. These feelings are grouped according to their pleasantness and energy.
Feelings in the RED ZONE include high energy and low pleasantness (e.g., angry, scared, and anxious);
Feelings in the BLUE ZONE include a low degree of energy and a low degree of pleasantness (e.g., sad, frustrated, and anxious).
Feelings in the GREEN ZONE include low levels of energy and high levels of pleasantness (e.g., calm, peaceful, and relaxed);
Feelings in the YELLOW ZONE include high energy and high pleasantness (e.g., happy, excited, and curious).
As we become more aware of our feelings, we begin to notice how they influence our decisions and behaviour. The Mood Meter enables us to more easily determine where we are in the present moment so that we can take action to improve our mood if necessary.
Our goal should be to be in the green and yellow zone about 70% of the time. This way we can increase both our own level of happiness and that of those around us. Scientists have already proven that happiness is “contagious” and when we are happy – the happiness of the people we are in close contact with increases by 15% and of those we have indirect contact with, it increases by 6 to 10%.
Daily Task
Choose from the Mood Meter what are your feelings in the present moment. Think about what thoughts and perceptions are causing or triggering your feelings.
If the majority of your feelings are in the red or blue zone – make a plan to do something today that can shift your feelings to the green and yellow zone.
