The Joy Scale part 2

12/1/2015

Wouldn't be nice if we knew where we are with respect to our ultimate goal of being a happy and joyful person?

Well, I created one simple tool to help you do just that: The Joy Scale.

(UPDATE April 2020: I have changed the name of the scale to "The Harmony Scale").

In the last article I introduced you to The Joy Scale. In this week's article, I'm giving you the extended version of the scale and I’m showing you how to use it and benefit from it. In the next and final article of The Joy Scale series, we will do an exercise to show you how to use it to improve any area of your life.

Extended version of The Joy Scale

The Joy Scale is a linear emotional scale with markers from zero to 100. Each marker has a group of emotions that are representative to that particular emotional state. These emotions in the group can be experienced all at once or some can be more accentuated than others. It all depends on the experience you’re going through at the moment.

Each marker and group of emotions also contain an emoticon. I have included this emoticon on top of the corresponding group of emotions to help you visualize your feelings. This is just another way to help you identify where, emotionally, you are on the scale.

Emotions in the 60 to 100 range are positive and empowering emotions. The greater the number, the more empowering the emotion is. Emotions from 40 to zero are negative emotions. The smaller the number, the less desirable the emotion is. Even though I don't categorize emotions from the marker 50 as positive or negative, they're still not very desirable emotions to remain in for long periods of time. Remember, anything over 60 is a passing grade.

As I’ve been saying in previous articles, there are no good or bad emotions. The reason I call them negative emotions is because of the unpleasant feeling we get in our bodies when we experience them. But in reality, they’re all needed for this human experience.

How to benefit from The Joy Scale

The Joy Scale gives you a visual representation of something that cannot be seen -your internal emotional state.

Being able to see your emotions on paper, or on your computer screen, gives you the ability to recognize and plan which steps to take, and what decisions to make, to get you moving to a better feeling emotional state.

How to use The Joy Scale

I’m going to show you how to use the scale by identifying your mood state on it. I talked about the differences between emotions and moods in this article.

For the sake of these instructions, let’s say that your mood has not been very pleasant. You feel worried most of the time and don't even remember how and when it started.

Since you feel worried you are in the emotional state of 30 on the scale. But in that state there are other emotions and there is a high possibility that you also feel them. The other emotions in the group that you might be experiencing as well are: insecurity, doubt, anxiety, and might even blame you or others for your situation.

Although you might feel one emotion more strongly than the others, it is very possible that they’re all being drawn in to be experienced and eventually displayed on to others. Do you want that? Do you want to be on that state? Do you want to feel that way? I’m pretty sure you don’t.

In that case, all you need to do is make a decision and do something to get you feeling better. Yes, it’s that simple. Get distracted and focus you attention on something else.

By being aware of how you feel and by making conscious decisions, everything in your life can change. Just make sure you choose the direction that feels better.

Remember this:
The first step in improving your life is to be aware of your current emotional state -where you are now.

I also want you to notice that any little movement to the right on the scale is good. As contradictory as this may sound, feeling frustrated is progress from feeling worried. Because feeling frustrated is a score of 40 on the scale compared to a 30 from feeling worried.

Now, look at The Joy Scale and find where your mood is on it. Doing this exercise is the beginning of taking care of yourself, the beginning of loving yourself, and the beginning of having a better life.

In The Joy Scale Part 3 article, we’ll be doing an exercise where we’ll be using emotions instead of your mood. Since emotions vary depending on events happening in the different areas of your life, we’ll be using more than one scale.

Now that you found your mood on the scale, how do you feel knowing where your mood is now in relation to where you want it to be?

Did you like this post? Let me send you more like it to your inbox every week. All you need to do is subscribe here. Also, if you think someone might benefit from this information, feel free to share this post with them.

Thank you,

justme

9/28/2022 11:25:50 am

this scale of yours doesn't make a lot of sense
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPETcaQ3Z2o

Claudia LeBaron Islas link

10/1/2022 10:19:40 am

Hi justme, maybe you need to read more about it.

The Harmony Scale (previously called joy scale) is not about toxic positivity. It is not about pushing for happiness either. The Harmony Scale is about showing you the way so you little by little, steadily and sustainably, live a more positive life.

Big jumps (from 30 to 80) are just not possible. That's a recipe for disaster. The key here is that we need to little by little move to a better feeling state. This means that if we feel predominantly pessimistic (30), we might need to first feel emotions from the 40, 50, 60, 70 markers before we feel emotions from the 80 (happiness).

It takes work. And many people are not willing to do it. They want to force their happiness—which it's not possible. They rather want instant change—also not possible. That's why many people end up bipolar and maniac depressive. It's rather a steady change we always need to work on. Always.

Best wishes :)

Comments are closed.

Claudia LeBaron Islas

Blog