Hello, friends. Welcome to the Bright Morning podcast. I'm your host, Elena Aguilar, and in each

podcast episode, you'll hear me demonstrate how you can lead conversations that build connection

and spark change. Today, I want to talk about something that might surprise you when you think about loving your job.

I want to talk to you about exploring your triggers.

You might be wondering, Elena, why are we discussing emotional triggers in a conversation about job satisfaction?

And that's because I have discovered that our triggers are actually portals through which we must pass if we truly want to thrive

in our work. So think of triggers as trailheads into our psyches.

They are entry points that when followed with curiosity and compassion can lead us to profound

insights about ourselves and what we need in order to flourish.

This exploration isn't always comfortable, but it's incredibly valuable.

So what exactly is a trigger?

A trigger is something that gets you emotionally activated, that catapults you quickly into an uncomfortable

emotion like anger, fear, sadness, or shame. And this activation can come from external sources,

like something a colleague says during a meeting or a student's behavior or an email from a parent,

or from internal sources, like your own thoughts and memories. So what makes triggers so challenging

is that they can often feel abrupt and overwhelming. One moment you're

fine and the next you're flooded with emotion. And that sudden loss of emotional equilibrium

can be deeply upsetting, especially in professional settings where we typically try to maintain composure.

I remember this one time that I was working with a group of teachers and one of them made a

casual comment about how some people just aren't cut out for teaching.

It was an offhand remark, and it wasn't directed at anyone in particular,

but I found myself instantly furious.

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