You were taught how to solve problems—logically, step by step.
If your maps app suddenly loses signal while you’re driving, you don’t panic. You pause. You assess. Maybe it’s the connection, a dead battery, or an update that never installed. So you troubleshoot—restart the phone, check your location, ask someone nearby. Eventually, you get back on track.
That kind of thinking? It’s everywhere.
We’re trained from a young age to solve problems with structure. Whether it’s a math assignment, a tech glitch, or a group project gone sideways, we know the process: assess, adapt, resolve. And we get rewarded for it.
However, when emotions take the wheel, the rules we know by heart—those logical steps and strategies—don’t disappear. They just stop working the way we expect.
Picture this: you’re still driving, but now the map won’t reload, no matter what you do. You’re lost. Pressure builds in your chest. That uneasy tightness creeps in, demanding your attention. You try to manage it. Sometimes you figure it out. Sometimes you give up trying.
We were clearly taught how to solve problems out in the world. But once the experience passes, there’s no follow-up. No pause. No process. We were never taught how to deal with the storms inside.
When emotions rise, we’re left with vague advice like “breathe” or “stay positive.” But pushing feelings aside doesn’t make us feel safe again. It doesn’t bring us back into the moment. And it dims joy, sometimes for a long while.
Ask someone to walk you through solving a math problem, and they’ll do it without hesitation. Ask how to process a painful emotion, and you’ll hear, “Well… it depends.”
Which is really just another way of saying: we don’t know. Not because we’re incapable, but because no one ever taught us how. We’ve mastered the steps for solving problems. But when it comes to processing emotions, we’re still guessing.
We’re suggesting a new way. Emotions don’t need to be stuffed down, sucked up, or shaken off. They don’t need to trigger a brownie, a glass of wine, a shopping spree, or a scroll just to blur the noise and fake our way through it. Instead of the old habit to keep moving, keep smiling, and hope the mess sorts itself out, we can choose to pause, feel, and process. There’s a path forward that doesn’t skip over what we feel but works with it..
In our research and lived experience, we began to see a pattern, one that neuroscience, behavioral psychology, and trauma-informed care all support:
Emotions inform logic: Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio’s research showed that people with damage to the emotional centers of their brain (such as the ventromedial prefrontal cortex) could still perform logical tasks but struggled to make even basic decisions in daily life. They could weigh pros and cons intellectually but were unable to assign value to choices—because they couldn’t feel what mattered. Without emotion, logic has no compass.
Source: Antonio Damasio, Descartes, Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain (1994)
Emotions help us prioritize: The brain constantly receives more data than we can process consciously. Emotion acts as a relevance filter—it tells us what to pay attention to. Fear sharpens our focus. Joy signals connection. Sadness signals meaning. These emotional cues emerge from the limbic system and interact with the prefrontal cortex to guide awareness and action.
Sources: Joseph LeDoux, The Emotional Brain, Annual Review of Psychology, 2006
Problem-solving activates emotional circuits: Solving complex problems—especially those involving uncertainty or trade-offs—engages both cognitive and emotional brain systems. The anterior cingulate cortex, in particular, weighs emotional costs and rewards, balancing effort and outcomes. Emotion is part of how we evaluate options, not just how we feel about them afterward.
Source: Shenhav, Botvinick, and Cohen, Neuron, 2013
Every emotional response is rooted in a neurobiological signal—a communication between your brain, body, and environment. Emotions are how your nervous system tracks safety, evaluates meaning, and prioritizes action.
But without structure, those signals get lost in translation. We override them. We suppress them. Or we act on them before they’ve had a chance to learn from them.
JOY Intelligence™ (JQ) changes that.
We have structured a science-informed system for emotional processing—designed to make sense of what we feel, and show us what to do with it.
At the heart of this work is the JQ Emotions Map™, the world’s first structured framework that teaches emotional processing as a learnable, repeatable life skill. It gives you a way to:
The emotional architecture of the JQ Emotions Map is data-driven.
JQ means becoming aware of what you feel, rather than overriding it. That awareness is powerful. It allows you to move forward without masking or forced positivity. This grounded system supports you in navigating discomfort with clarity and intention.
The JQ Emotions Map™ helps you build the internal structure that most of us never received. It organizes the tools you already use, like breathwork, journaling, or therapy, into a system that supports movement through emotion, not just distraction from it.
JQ represents a new approach to solving problems. Not a trick of the mind, but a truth built into the body. Solutions come when we remember that safety and presence are allowed to return. And when they do, joy follows. Now we can reach for it in moments of uncertainty.
As you train your brain with JQ, you begin to recognize that joy is a biological marvel, a neurological reality, and a core part of who you are. The JQ System is built on that truth, revealing a steady current flowing beneath every emotional experience.
And honestly, isn’t that a little miraculous to realize?
Now, picture that moment again, when your map app suddenly cuts out. No directions. No signal. Just stillness. Confusion maybe. The Chair of JOY® is how we can reconnect. You sit. You breathe. You let your mind settle. Your emotions rise, not to overwhelm, but to guide. That rising panic begins to loosen. You give yourself a moment to interrupt the story that disaster is inevitable, and instead, visualize that one way or another, you’re going to be okay. As the fear softens, your body calms, and something shifts. You begin to think differently. A new perspective. A different option. Maybe you ask a better question. Maybe you take a turn you hadn’t considered. Maybe you call a friend. Maybe you even laugh. You begin to feel the space to make a safe, rational decision.
GPS is helpful. But this is where you start to trust your own internal navigation. And when you do, you see your emotions not as obstacles, but as a proven way to move through life with greater awareness, wisdom, and direction.
JOYELY® transforms workplace culture with digital emotional processing tools and data-driven technology, empowering engaged, resilient, and high-performing teams. Dedicated to elevating global well-being, JOYELY® makes joy a core life skill through experiences like the Chair of JOY®, JOY Intelligence™ Emotions Map, and the Four Stages of Presence. Inspiring individuals and organizations to access clarity, resilience, and purpose, JOYELY® is available for conferences, keynotes, event showcases, interactive programs, and fundraising—creating an undeniable conversation for all.
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