We all get upset from time to time. We might be angry at someone. Scared about something happening or not happening. Feeling shame. The list goes on.
Sometimes that upset quickly clears. But sometimes it hangs around.
If you're feeling upset, it's important to know how this affects your perception and therefore decision-making.
As Stephen R. Covey says
> “We see the world, not as it is, but as we are – or, as we are conditioned to see it.”
If we are upset - or excited, for that matter - we are going to see the world differently to when we are calm.
And if we are seeing the world differently, we're not seeing it as it is.
Most of the time we know what to do in a situation. We all have an innate wisdom that's the product of thousands of years of evolution. But we can't access it when we're upset (or excited).
Combining these two, trying to make a decision exclusively based on logical reasoning about a world we're not seeing clearly is going to feel difficult. And that decision will rarely be a good one.
To make better decisions when you're feeling upset (or excited), wait until you're not.
If you can get calm, do it now. Otherwise, let things settle naturally. Then see what comes to mind. If nothing else, know that decisions made when you're upset (or excited) are made with limited information and a strong bias. Do what you can to limit the scope and mitigate the risk.
