Organize Your Emotions, Optimize Your Life: Decode Your Emotional DNA-and Thrive

I really liked this book, it showed me an alternative way of thinking about the voices in my head (not the schizophrenic kind, but the different facets of my internal dialog....the internal dialog we ALL have) and recognizing them. I bought this book because I feel "stuck" in life, not achieving my full potential (or even remotely close to it) and just not feeling like I'm on the right track. The problem is that I didn't know what that "right track" was, so how on earth would I figure out how to get there? I saw this book and decided to buy it even though I was skeptical it would be helpful. It seemed like it was going to be one of those gimmicky self-help books where they lay out a simple plan that I've already heard and don't really help you make your way through the plan (or it just doesn't work for me in general).I was pleasantly surprised that I learned a lot from this book. I'm still feeling stuck, but now I have a new approach. I never thought about the different aspects of my internal dialog before, but it makes a whole lot of sense. This book clearly outlines what those different aspects are (described as the nine members of your "inner family"), the role they play in our lives/their intent and purpose, what might happen if we ignore some of the voices of our "inner family" (with case studies for each one to really make it clear, even if you can't relate to the situation the person in the case study is going through), and how to call out those voices and give them the time of day to express themselves so you can figure out what they're asking for. This was all very helpful, though the case studies presented by Edward Phillips I found to be hit or miss, they usually didn't add much to the theory for me.I would give this five stars, however I felt like something was missing. I learned through the case studies how people in Coach Meg's (the author) sessions do a "Roll Call" to bring out the voices of their inner family, but it doesn't really guide you through the steps to do this. The book gives you four questions to ask for each of the nine "inner family" members so you can identify them and the role that they play in your own life, which is great and is an activity you need to do before you jump into the roll call. However, after that, it seems that you're supposed to use your mindfulness skills to get settled and ask each family member to share its opinion about your current state of affairs (whether you're going through a specific dilemma or an overall feeling of stuckness). Using what you know about each family member, you can discern who is saying what and go from there to evaluate the different agendas and what the best course of action would be to make sure everyone is "heard" as best as possible. The idea being, when you stifle one or more of these "inner family" members' needs, you feel the adverse effects in your life. To help balance yourself, you need to hear those family members out and use them to guide you. What is overall missing from this book, I cannot say for certain, but I can say that doing this roll call is most likely the most effective when in a coaching setting (meaning, in person with a coach who can help guide you through it and label your inner family members who are speaking). I've had trouble doing this on my own. I'll try to write out what my inner family member I've called upon is saying, only to realize it really another inner family member speaking...or that I haven't split them up enough and they're talking over each other. My next approach is going to be to record myself doing the roll call and then playing it back. So instead of labeling the family members as I go along, I'll just voice their points of view and then watch the recording and figure it out from there. I'm hoping that this gives me the feedback that this book has set me up for achieving.I'd give this 4.5 stars if I could. In summary, the book gets to the point. You don't have to wait until the middle to figure out what they mean by an "inner family" or how listening to these different voices can help you. It gets right down to it and after explaining each one and how to recognize it, the book then spends time with a chapter for each inner family member (one or two of them share chapters because they tend to be at odds with each other) and two case studies to help further examine how this inner family member is playing out in your own life. I feel well informed, I just haven't been able to make the jump to actually organize my emotions in this way. Coach Meg does actively coach people, I have no clue for how much, but if I'm not able to do it on my own then that'll be my next thing to look into because I feel this approach could really help me feel less stuck and provide me with more direction in my life.

The title is a bit misleading, since no one can "organize" their emotions. Instead, the book talks about how we can listen to all our emotional needs and strive to meet them in a realistic way. It's methods are helpful to make sure that we are not overlooking some of our "quieter" needs. If you are feeling somewhat dissatisfied with your life, this book can give you ways to think about it.

I love books like this. It was written conversationally and used multiple examples. Some books contradict themselves sooner or later. This one carried the same message and tone throughout even while switching points of view. As someone with high anxiety, i found this a very comforting read and yes it was helpful

The information in this book has given me a lot to consider per the psychological processes that occur within the minds of those not necessarily in the clinical population. While a bit challenging to keep track of the inner family of voices, it is an interesting read that makes sense.

This is a very good book for self assessment of emotional issues and selection of bestresponses

I loved the book but I didn’t like the voice of the narrator on the Audible version.

As a business and personal coach, and one who has been coached, this book is enabling me to "take my game to a new level". The ability to "inventory" how I am feeling in a simple but effective matter (as often as I need) truly helps to optimize my day-to-day decision-making. It also helps me keep myself out of the way of those I am coaching. Thank you Coach Meg and Doctor Eddie!

GOOD READ

This book is a simplified introduction to the concept of 'multiplicity of mind', introducing 9 characters. It relies heavily on the "Internal Family System" (IFS) modality (by Richard Schwarz who wrote praise for the book, who is referred to repeatedly, who is thanked at the end). I say "simplified" introduction since anybody familiar with IFS knows that we all have much more parts. Not to mention that parts have parts...The authors encourage to listen to each of those nine "discrete aspects of your personality", find a way to reach a compromise, "pull them together as an Inner Family, and move forward". That may work as an introduction to IFS but has nothing to do with the title of the book "Organize your emotions, optimize your life" or the subtitle "Decode your emotional DNA". A better title would have been "Organize your mind, optimize your life" but the authors had used that title already in a previous book.As an introduction to IFS this books is too simply and it contains nothing in terms of "organizing your emotions". Very misleading and disappointing.