How to Manage Your Emotions
from SOLVED with Mark Manson
by Mark Manson
Published: Tue Jul 01 2025
Show Notes
What are emotions? Why do we feel anything at all? And more importantly — can we actually get better at feeling?
In this episode, Drew and I dive headfirst into what might be the hardest question in all of psychology: what the actual f**k are emotions? We break down the biology, neuroscience, evolution, culture, and even language that shape how we feel — and why we often don’t understand what the hell is going on inside us. From ancient philosophy to brain scans, this is a deep (and occasionally weird) look into the emotional chaos that makes us human.
We unpack everything from the origins of emotional intelligence (spoiler: it might be BS) to the science of emotional regulation, attachment styles, and the sneaky ways your culture wires your emotional defaults. Along the way, we explore why some relationships make you feel like a better person while others drain the life out of you, and how trauma, genetics, and childhood with your ability to keep it together.
But this episode isn’t just about understanding emotions — it’s about learning how to work with them. And we give you a full emotional toolkit: a set of evidence-based tools to help you manage your emotions, build better relationships, feel more motivated, and yes — even feel more confident in yourself in the process.
We also put together a free companion guide for this episode with all the takeaways, references, and tools to help you get your sh*t together once and for all. Download it here: https://solvedpodcast.com/emotions
Ready to stop listening to podcasts and actually start taking action? Join Momentum, a community of like-minded people who are taking small steps every day to make big changes in their lives: https://findmomentum.com/emotions
Sign up for my newsletter, Your Next Breakthrough. It will help make you a less awful person: https://markmanson.net/breakthrough
Chapters:
IntroductionChapter 1: What Are Emotions?The Emotional BrainNeurotransmittersEvolution of EmotionsHow Life Experiences Shape Emotional RegulationConclusion on What are EmotionsChapter 2: How Culture Influences Our EmotionsVietnam Bike StoryYour Culture Trains You to Want Certain FeelingsCulture Decides Whether Suppression is a Superpower or a LiabilityParadox of Emotional ConformityHow Language Shapes What You FeelEmotional ComplexityYour Emotions Are Social CurrencyConclusion to Culture defines our emotionsChapter 3: Historical and Philosophical Traditions on EmotionsModern CultureChapter 4: The Four Schools of Emotional RegulationThe HeartThe HeadThe SoulThe BodyThe Integrated ToolkitChapter 5: Brilliant or Bullshit: Emotional IntelligenceChapter 6: Relationships and Emotional RegulationAttachment TheoryToxic RelationshipBuilding Emotional CompatibilityConclusion RelationshipsChapter 7: 80/20
Follow me:
https://instagram.com/markmanson/
https://twitter.com/IAmMarkManson
https://facebook.com/Markmansonnet/