Emotional Advantage:
Embracing All Your Feelings To Create A Life You Love
Author: Randy Taran
Category: Personal Development
Release Date: June 4, 2019
Publisher: St Martin’s Essentials
ISBN: 1250200059
Media Kit includes:
- Professional Biography
- Contact Information
- High Resolution Headshots
- Author Interview Questions
- Story Behind The Book
- Endorsements/Testimonials
- Press Release & Sell Sheet
- Book Excerpt
Professional Biography
Small: Founder and CEO of Project Happiness, a global organization with 2.5 million followers, Randy Taran is passionate about wellbeing, authenticity, joy and transforming challenging feelings to create a life you love.
Medium: Randy Taran is the Founder and CEO of Project Happiness, a global organization with a loyal following of 2.5 million people. A sought after speaker and expert in emotional resilience, she reveals in her book and courses how all emotions, even the difficult ones, can be fuel to create a life you love.
Large: Randy Taran is the Founder and CEO of the global organization, Project Happiness. With a loyal following of 2.5 million people, she has been covered in O magazine, NPR, and The Huffington Post. As the producer of an award-winning documentary on the nature of happiness, she facilitated interviews with George Lucas, Richard Gere, and neuroscientist Richard Davidson. Her best-selling book on happiness became the basis for curriculum in over 120 countries worldwide. She has worked with First Ladies, Ministers of Education, and major thought leaders, for nearly a decade has served as a board member of the Dalai Lama Foundation and is on the board of the United Nations-sanctioned International Day of Happiness. Randy, a master in NLP, is a sought-after international speaker on the topics of happiness habits, preventative wellness, and emotional resilience.
Contact Information
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.randytaran.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/RandyTaran
Instagram: www.instagram.com/RandyTaran
Twitter: www.twitter.com/RandyTaran
Author Interview Questions
I’d been focusing on happiness, and received so many questions on my Facebook Live about how to deal with its flipside - the tough emotions, like sadness, fear and anger. What if instead of hijacking our mind, we could use their messages to create a better life? It turns out we can learn how fear can move us to courage, how guilt can clarify our values, and how anger can help us create healthy boundaries. This turned into a deep exploration and I was amazed at how each and every emotion has the power to bring us back to our strongest, most loving, and most authentic selves.
Stress is everywhere. It’s in the news, intensified by our phone addictions, and the pressure to be seen as perfect. There’s a longing for community; 4/10 people in the US self-report as lonely. The World Health Organization has declared depression the greatest cause of disability, even ahead of heart disease, and that’s globally. Anxiety is also rampant - 1 in 5 people say they deal with it, even kids. This is a wake-up call for all of us. This is our number one unspoken epidemic, and why we have curriculum that goes into schools, why we have 2.5 million followers on social media and why this book and the courses that go with it are so timely. The good news is that there is so much we can do – that’s what I’m most excited to share.
We have an inner compass inside of ourselves and we’ve forgotten how to use it! And in a culture that values appearance over authenticity, we often ignore the clues our emotions are giving us to help us navigate. It’s easier when life is good, but in complex times like these, we need to be able to work with how we’re feeling, and that does not mean just stuffing it away and pretending that it’s all good. We need emotional literacy to have emotional intelligence, and to lead successful lives. But we’re usually not taught this, and most people have no clue what their emotions are trying to communicate.
Great question - I’d have to say shame was challenging - it’s something we don’t talk about much - it’s deep in the dungeon of our minds. Fear, sadness and anger were runner-ups, they are uncomfortable, and we live on alert that our emotions will “take over our life.” But the thing is, and what we’ve been missing is they all can help guide us to our best lives IF we know how to work with them. I cover this in the book, and even offer courses for those who want to go deeper on certain emotions.
Two ways – many people either they let it ALL out, (explode, blame, wail) or keep it all in (stuff the emotions, take things out on yourself instead of others) – and denial is pretty popular too. But the thing is, when we suppress what we’re feeling, those feelings can become monsters. Neuroscience says “Name it to tame it.” When we identify what we’re feeling, and accept them (hey nobody’s perfect - we’re not supposed to be), we get to work with their information and architect a life we love. When we know that our emotions are roadmaps, this is possible. The book give science-based proven daily strategies that anyone can use – even small changes can lead to big results.
Every chapter has tips and strategies, both reflection and challenge questions to meet you where you are and inspire you towards creating your better life. Let me say one thing - this book is NOT about being happy all the time: A - that is impossible and B - it’s the fastest way to become unhappy! Happiness is not the absence of obstacles; it’s an inner reservoir that helps us handle whatever comes our way. The book is a guidebook to a multitude of strategies to transform and take charge of your life. You are not a victim of circumstances – you can use your emotional advantage to literally create a life you love.
That inspired parts of the book certainly – I grew up seeing mental issues on both sides of my family - it’s why I started this Project Happiness in the first place and why I did the film, the first book, the curriculum… But I knew there was more, and felt drawn to explore the full range of emotions that make us human. I myself was looking for answers, and it was a fascinating area. What I learned is that making friends with your so-called negative emotions (the shadow side) gives you more awareness, which leads to more choices, which leads to a better life, period.
Talking Points
- Emotions are energy in motion – they are the body’s signals and can seem to arise out of nowhere – but the truth is they are automated responses to take care of either a danger (threat) or an opportunity (finding a mate).
- So-called “bad feelings” (like fear, anger, guilt) are messengers of valuable information trying their best to tell us something is off.
- It’s up to us to pay attention!
- Fear is involuntary; it is the body’s warning system that something here and now is a threat
- Your senses become hyper-alert. Fear can provide the focus to help you collect yourself, harness your energy, and make your next move. The challenge is honoring your instinct rather than squashing it.
- If you have even a whisper of a feeling that you shouldn’t go into that elevator, listen to that voice, don’t override it.
- We all hear the message – keep calm and carry on. But if that comes at the price of denying authentic feelings from a situation (didn’t get the promotion, pet dies, betrayed by a lover) you are not allowing yourself to process those real feeling – you are sending them underground.
- Then they can fester, and you can find yourself exploding into rage or a flood of tears at the strangest times.
- Instead “name it to tame it, feel what you feel, and notice the change.
- Anger is a messenger telling you that something is not right: maybe a boundary has been violated; you feel you are being prevented from getting something you really want; or you have been hurt so much that you cannot take it anymore.
- Anger also can help you push through an obstacle, manage pain, and connect with your courage.
- It gives the fuel to repair a wrong – think of MLK, Gandhi, the #metoo movement or BlackLivesMatter.
- Anger is not bad in itself – it’s a potent energy and a useful one if we learn to identify it and use it skillfully.
- Guilt tells you: you made a mistake. Shame tells you: you are a mistake.
- Guilt involves feeling remorse for a situation – you want to make it better.
- Shame often involves feeling bitter, outwardly blaming other, but secretly loathing yourself.
- Shame is linked with addictions, eating disorders, and other attempts to control, numb out, or deflect the bad feelings. In contrast, guilt leads to healing addictions, taking action to rectify the past, and finding solutions.
- Two kinds of passion – harmonious passion or obsessive passion
- Harmonious passion, like in hobby you enjoy or a healthy relationship, enhances your life, increases energy, and keeps you vital. Also, it doesn’t take over your whole life – you can shift your focus and have your space when you want to.
- Obsessive passion, on the other hand, takes over your priorities, taxes your energy, and whether it’s a person or a pursuit, it becomes your one focal point.
- Ask yourself, “am I a slave to this passion, or is it enhancing all the other parts of my life as well?”
- According to biological anthropologist Helen Fisher, “We know that the brain circuitry for romantic love follows the same pathway as all the other addictions do.”
- Because it’s linked with the dopamine fueled reward system, you crave this person and can’t stop thinking about them.
- This is a natural addiction geared toward survival of the species, and it is there on purpose. So if you feel “addicted to love,” especially at the early stages, it is not a design flaw—it’s part of the plan.
- Reserve time to check in with yourself.
Press Release
For immediate release. California, 2019
Are feelings of Anger, Guilt and Fear hijacking your life?
It’s time to befriend all of your emotions and access your Emotional Advantage.
We’ve all heard the buzz words Mindfulness, Wellness, and Happiness. But there’s a hidden obstacle in aiming for these states of being. What are we meant to do in times when life doesn’t go as planned? Or when we feel the rise of anger, guilt or fear? When faced with challenging emotions are we supposed to just push them away in order to thrive? Neuroscience reveals that to understand and utilize any emotion, we need to “name it to tame it.” It turns out that even the tough emotions can alert, protect, and fuel us forward, if we know how to learn from them.
“We have an inner compass inside of ourselves but we’ve forgotten how to use it. All the emotions have the potential to guide us, like an inner GPS, back to our core strengths. But, in a culture that values appearance over authenticity, we often push away the clues our emotions are giving us to help us move forward.
It’s easier when life is good, but in complex times like these, we need to be able to work with how we’re feeling, and that does not mean just stuffing it away and pretending that it’s all good. We need emotional literacy to have emotional intelligence, and most people have no clue what their emotions are trying to communicate.” - Randy Taran
Founder and CEO of global non-profit organization Project Happiness, Randy Taran, whose work and award-winning documentary have been featured on O, Huffington Post, NPR, Yoga Journal, Thrive Global and more, is dedicated to empowering people with the resources to create greater happiness within themselves and the world. An expert in emotional resilience, her desire is to inspire readers with the idea that all emotions are not only worthy of reflection but can guide us back to our core values. Her newest book, Emotional Advantage, shows us a new perspective on how fear can move us to courage, how guilt can clarify our values, and how anger can help us create healthy boundaries.
Everybody knows what it’s like to be troubled by a fog of feelings. Instead of being hijacked by our feelings, we can, like alchemists, use the science-based tools to transform our emotions and use their messages to take charge of creating our very best life.
Emotional Advantage: Embracing All Your Emotions To Create A Life You Love is available for pre-order now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, IndieBound, and Powells.
Release date: June 4th, 2019. Contact www.randytaran.com, [email protected]
Want to learn more about how to harness all of your emotions (the good, the bad and the ugly)? Join me on April 16, 2019 at 11AM PST for my workshop: Passion, Purpose and Joy. During this workshop, I’ll take you through exercises to use use your passions, identify your purpose (you may have noticed that it changes over time), and how to dramatically increase your joy to live life more fully. The workshop is valued at $149, but it’s free when you preorder my new book, Emotional Advantage. Order Here.
Book Excerpt
The challenge of our times is not only what we can achieve on the outside, but how we can connect with our deepest core self on the inside.
What if we could actually use our emotions and feelings as a pathway to guide us back like an inner compass? What if, like alchemists, we had the tools to transform every emotion to re-calibrate us toward creating our very best life? If instead of hijacking us and taking us off course, they could be touchstones to help reconnect us with our true nature?
Even the most troublesome emotions and feelings are sending messages to alert, protect, and fuel us forward. When we forgive ourselves for holding on to old patterns because they had kept us feeling safe, we free ourselves from the chains of denial and self-judgment and create the space to move on.
Behind The Book
It all started during my Facebook Live broadcasts on Project Happiness. The audience was unusually attuned when we were talking about how to deal with the tougher emotions e.g. fear, anxiety, anger. There was a hunger for help and knowledge around these feelings. Though I have been passionate about the Science of Happiness, I came to understand that happiness is just one side of the coin. I grew up seeing mental issues on both sides of my family was drawn to understand the shadow side - the emotions that we don’t regularly talk about. The question that intrigued me was how to befriend them, discover their messages, and how could we use them to create our best life.
