No. 58 of the MaxLife Reflection Series · prints to one 8.5 × 11 page · 3-hole-punch ready
MAXLIFE
Reflection Series
58
No. of 75

How To Process Emotions Like Data (AI Can't Do This)

Companion to the MaxLife episode with Jon Ray

Jon Ray, a sales coach certified in emotional processing, teaches that the plans that keep stalling in your life usually aren't a discipline problem. They're an uncomfortable feeling you keep working around, and the clarity you want is sitting right behind it.

▶ Watch the full episode with Jon Ray for deeper context on how to approach these questions
01

Where The Plan Keeps Stalling

Pick the one area where you keep trying and it keeps not working, even though you already know what to do. On the left, name the area. On the right, what does the stall actually look like when it happens?

The area I keep trying
What the stall looks like
02

What You Reach For Instead

When that area gets uncomfortable, the real escape isn't always the obvious bad habit. Circle every one that's yours. What do you actually grab to get away from the discomfort: the scroll, the snack, the busywork, the fifth coffee?

Scrolling my phoneGetting busy / productiveA drink or a snackPicking a fight or dramaWorking out / cleaningJust numbing out
03

The Feeling Underneath

If you didn't reach for that escape and just sat still for a minute, that feeling that came up is the thing you've been avoiding. Naming it plainly, like you'd explain it to a kid (sad, scared, angry, ashamed, lonely), what is it?

If I stopped distracting myself, what I'd actually feel is ___.
04

What It's Quietly Cost

That feeling has been steering your choices in this area for a while. Looking back over the last year, what has avoiding it actually cost you in your work, your relationships, or how you see yourself?

05

The Five-Minute Bull Ride

Here's the method: pick one moment before Friday, set a timer for five minutes, and let that feeling get as big as it wants without pushing it away. It'll feel too big. That's fine, you only have to hold it for five, and when the timer ends you're free to go do anything you want. Many people find a calmer, clearer idea waiting once it passes. When will you do your first five minutes?

The whole practice is one thing repeated: when something feels hard or frustrating, that's the signal to stop and feel it, not to push harder. Feel it all the way through and a clearer idea, the one you couldn't reach before, tends to show up on the other side. So where in your life have you been forcing a problem that's actually asking you to feel something first?
maxlifecoach.com
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