1. Expand Your Emotional Vocabulary
Anger, sadness, happiness, and disgust are considered primary emotions, but sometimes, the emotions you're experiencing are more nuanced and harder to identify.
🖍️It's like upgrading from the 8-pack of crayons to the 64-pack.
What if instead of anger, you're feeling envy?
What if instead of happiness, you're feeling jubilant?
What if instead of disgust, you're feeling judgemental?
What if you're feeling a combination of these emotions?
Naming the emotion(s) you're feeling will give you more insights into what is driving them AND will expand your emotional range.
An emotion wheel is a great start to expand your emotional ABC's!
The better you become at recognizing your emotions, the more equipped you will be to process them rather than bury them.
And, the better you will be at empathizing with others and helping them better understand their emotions.
2. Refine how you communicate your thoughts and feelings
You might find yourself saying, I "feel that" we should go in this direction, or I "feel like" we are dragging our feet.
These statements are thoughts, not feelings.
It's a small but important distinction.
If you want to express a thought, it would be more direct to say, "I THINK we should go in this direction."
If you want to express your feelings, it would be more direct to say, "I FEEL frustrated that we haven't moved forward yet."
Next time, ask yourself, do you want people to know what you think or how you feel? (Maybe both!)
2. These 2 small tweaks can reap big rewards.
You'll be a more direct communicator.
You'll be a better leader.
You'll develop more trusting relationships.
You'll know yourself better.
You'll expand your vocabulary!
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