Hey Curiousgeorge.

First, love the name, nice choice.

One of the things that helped me a lot which you may/may not have across already is learning about & practicing recognising that your emotions are separate to you, your identity.  It may sound weird but by doing so you become increasingly aware of the gap there is between feeling something and re-acting to it. E.g. for me, if I am feeling anger or upset, I know the best thing for me is to go take a walk, calm down, get some space. That way I can then choose how I want to act – not just react to the emotion at that time.  As I’ve practiced more, the need for physical space gets less and I’m able to be aware of the feeling without necessarily accepting it as ‘true’. It’s then possible to evaluate it, see if it’s telling me something useful or not.  Look at it from different perspectives as nothing is ever black/white.

Part of being able to do that means having a good idea of what I value, what I would like to achieve. Mark Manson’s blog has some great articles on this for free, though his reading style may not be for everyone.  I can go into this more myself if you think it would be helpful.

Take care – it’s a great step to be reaching out and looking to grow.