A scientist described in the September 1946 issue of True: The Men's Magazine kept a chart on his lab wall that looked like a stock graph. The peaks and valleys represented his mood cycle. High weeks, he'd "feel equal to tackling tigers with his bare hands." Low weeks, he'd "sell out for a nickel." "Don't start an argument with me today!" he told writer Donald G. Cooley. "I'm scraping bottom of my mood cycle."
The method: draw a scale from elation to depression, one column per day, and plot a dot each evening for your emotional tone. Connect the dots after a few weeks, and look for a wave. According to the article, the average cycle runs five or six weeks; once two or three full loops confirm your rhythm, you can transfer it to a calendar and read off your mood a month or two ahead.
The underlying research was conducted by Professor Rex G. Hersey at the University of Pennsylvania, who spent a year tracking the emotional fluctuations of public utility workers. Their moods ran in regular cycles lasting three to nine weeks, each predictable to within about a week.
Once you have the chart, you can use it to make plans. When you're feeling good "make your creative, ambitious plans for the future." "Put over your big idea, or any other selling job." "Do your dating now; your charm is at its peak and quarrels are less likely." When you're low: "Keep away from people; you're irritable, critical and you carry a chip on your shoulder." "Catch up on work you can do quietly while alone, such as reading or gun repairing." Ah, 1946.
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