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7. Are You Taking Care Of Your Emotional Health?

True wellness isn’t complete without emotional fitness, and it’s time to give it the attention it deserves.

We live in complex times marked by constant change, technological overstimulation, sociopolitical disruptions, wars, and inequity. With the ongoing increase of everyday stressors and demands on the human psyche, emotional fitness is a vital necessity that shapes our intrapersonal and interpersonal dynamics while informing how we affect the entire spectrum of our human influence—relationships, work, and community.

Emotional fitness has become an essential aspect of the mental health narrative, broadening the wellness discussion to view it from a developmental lens. Emotional fitness relates to our capacity to develop our emotional resilience by navigating the complexities of everyday life with strength, depth, and agility. When we cultivate emotional fitness, we equip ourselves with a key contributor to our personal and professional fulfilment 

To better understand what emotional fitness is, we must also understand what it is not. A great example of this is provided by Dr. Susan David, a psychologist at Harvard Medical School, who draws a distinction between coping mechanisms and emotional fitness: "Coping involves getting through emotional challenges, while emotional fitness focuses on enhancing your ability to face future difficulties with greater ease." This distinction is crucial because it highlights how, if we come from a place of strength and with a growth mindset, we can view an emotional challenge as an opportunity for an upgrade! Whether we are high-functioning leaders managing large teams or individuals looking to enhance the value of our relationships with our peers, partners, or children, emotional fitness reminds us that we can achieve our goals and achievements with much more efficiency if we simultaneously tend to our emotional wellbeing and that of those around us.

Unlike mental health, which is guided by diagnosis and treatment, emotional fitness embraces a holistic approach to proactively developing internal strength before issues arise. In recent years, the field of coaching has significantly contributed to building emotional fitness as a proactive strategy for well-being and performance while highlighting the importance of self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and resilience. 

What is at Risk? 

Society at large promotes a “tough it out” mentality and normalises emotional suppression. Stereotypes related to gender roles and the lack of diversity in human multidimensionality have not only labelled people but also restricted them to function in ways that are accepted as the norm.

In organisational systems, leaders are expected to function with objectivity, often neglecting human emotions in themselves and those they lead. The workplace is filled with unprocessed emotions that influence the culture of these systems. The visible disregard for acknowledging the humanness of the workforce becomes an invisible force that affects productivity, efficiency, decision-making, and a sense of belonging. 

The Journal of Occupational Health Psychology (Maslach & Leiter, 2016) demonstrates that emotional exhaustion directly correlates with deteriorating physical health. From compromised immune function to cardiovascular issues, the body logs emotional neglect, as Bessel van der Kolk eloquently argues in his groundbreaking work. The price we pay extends beyond momentary discomfort into lasting physiological damage. 

How Can we Flip the Patterns? 

Emotional fitness generates a similar level of hope as physical fitness. It requires endurance, consistency, and practice. Changing the established response patterns to life situations and building genuine emotions can be achieved through the practice of evidence-based approaches. 

• Cognitive reframing is training the mind to interpret stressors as challenges rather than threats beyond the idea of positive thinking. 
• Nervous system regulation translates to rest-and-digest states from fight-or-flight integrating techniques like rhythmic breathing and somatic practices. 
• Strategic boundary-setting speaks to the practice of strategic energy conservation, which is beyond endurance. 
• Digital discipline is about creating boundaries for our digital usage to protect our capacity to process emotions effectively, and prevent emotional and cognitive fatigue.

Creating Fulfillment through Emotional Fitness 

Fulfilment arises from intentional congruence and connection with oneself and the greater whole, which is experienced as an unshakeable satisfaction and state of contentment. This sense of fulfilment results from how we operate within and relate to our ecosystem, particularly through our relationships and work. On one level, fulfilment represents an innate human desire, while on another, it embodies the process of learning how to live life.

Emotional fitness is a process and the muscle that defines our inner operating system. The quality of our inner fitness is our emotional fitness, and the more stable we are internally, the greater the elegance in how we navigate life. 

• Purpose and Meaning: Connecting to work that matters and contributes to something larger than oneself 
• Growth and Development: Continuously expanding capabilities, knowledge, and self-awareness 
• Agency and Autonomy: Being in touch with our personal agency and leveraging it to shape our lives and our work
• Engagement: Being fully present and exercising our strengths to meaningfully overcome challenges
• Connection: Building authentic relationships and belonging within a community 
• Achievement: Making meaningful progress and impact that is recognized and valued 

Emotional fitness is a learnt behaviour and is a fundamental necessity for sustainable performance and fulfilment. The question we can ask ourselves as leaders is: How emotionally fit am I? How does my emotional fitness manifest itself? How am I creating emotional fitness leading to fulfilment for those I lead and serve? 

Image Credits : Pexels