Welcome back to a brand new school year. Hopefully you were able to recharge over the break and have some fresh thinking time on the beaches, in the mountains and in your back garden.
During my summer downtime, I discovered an intriguing book written by Dr Liz Miller entitled Mood Mapping.
As many of you know, I have been interested in the issue of Mood for some time. It is a key element in my work with Learning and Behaviour.
Dr Miller takes the issue of Mood and Management to a new level. She essentially identifies the 4 main basic moods as: Action, Anxiety, Depressed and Calm.
This covers a lot of ground in both strength and depth. For example, a calm mood can range from intense concentration to lying down on the sofa watching TV.
An Action mood can be either energetic and productive or manic and out of control. The key is that mood affects your thinking and your behaviour, hence your responses to specific situations.
Understanding how the different states of mood influence your actions and reactions you can more effectively improve your mood management to determine successful outcomes.
I have adapted and updated many of the key principles in my presentation The M factor: Mood and Motivation Management. For more details see Training courses on the website page www.fintanoregan.com.
One of the key factors identified by Dr Miller in helping to support a positive, stable and productive mood for oneself is through regular and structured pre workouts for women and a good diet.
To support this theory, I will be running the Great North Run on September 12th. Not only has the physical training for this 13.5 mile challenge helped my mental attitude, it has also been a hugely positive emotional experience though my fund raising efforts for the NSPCC charity.
Though by the time you will read this I will have hopefully completed the run the sponsorship page remains open www.justgiving.com/Fintan-O-Regan8
Finally on the web page there is a video of an inspirational couple of 80 year olds who prove that nothing that you set out to achieve is impossible. www.fintanoregan.com.
Have a great term