How much attention do you pay to your dashboard lights when you drive your car?

After you notice them, how much attention do you give to them?

I find the way we engage our dashboard lights is similar to how to we engage our emotions. In fact, emotions are a lot like a car’s dashboard lights. They signal a problem, and immediately, we want to make the dashboard light go off! But it is not that easy; we have to know what the dashboard’s light and symbol mean to make it stop.

Human emotions have been studied for decades, and many early thoughts have been revised. For example, don’t trust them, focus on something else by taking a break or doing something you enjoy, and ask why you are feeling that way are suggestions from early studies of emotions.

We understand now that emotions are a sophisticated way of getting our attention to solve a more complex problem. We have also learned quick ways to use emotions to direct us to the problem that needs to be solved rather than getting stuck staring at the dashboard.

Here is a quick introduction to deciphering your dashboard lights (emotions).

Emotions can be categorized into 4 main categories: Happy, Mad, Sad, and Afraid. There is a continuum of feelings words in each of those categories to represent the intensity. For example, irritated is in the mad category and rage. Stressed is in the fear category, and so is panic. Still, the intensity is different to help us decipher the problem’s urgency.

Each emotion category has a message that can be decoded. Although the intensity of the emotion can vary, the message does not change within the category.

Sad is a signal that you are losing something or something is lost.

Mad is a signal that you have a blocked goal or expectation.

Happy is a signal that many of your needs are being met.

Afraid is a signal that there is something you do not know.

These signals are not designed to think and determine the specific problem or solutions, so they will continue to signal until the issue has been addressed. If the problem is partially addressed, the signal will come on intermittently. If the problem is resolved, the signal will go off. If the problem is acknowledged but delayed in solving, the signal will briefly decrease.

Does it sound simple but feel complex? I find having a mixed understanding of the function of emotions complicates our response. I have had constant success using this model I adapted from Dr. David Burns and Aldo Pucci, Cognitive Behavioral Specialists.

If you want to learn more about reading your own dashboard, invest in a few mental health coaching sessions.