Articulate that Feeling

Introduction

One of the most powerful skills a person can develop is the ability to accurately identify and articulate what they are feeling.

Most people experience emotions throughout the day but describe them using only a handful of words: happy, sad, angry, stressed, or fine. These are often too broad to be useful.

The goal of this exercise is simple: Pause. Notice. Name the feeling. This version uses a four-step hierarchy inspired by the emotion wheel: 1. Top level feeling, 2. Second level feeling, 3. Third level / Intensity of the Feeling, and 4. Root cause exploration - Understand why the feeling arose. Choose the broad feeling family, narrow it to the closest second-level branch, then select the precise third-level word that best matches your experience before using the worksheet to understand what that feeling is pointing to.

Interactive Exercise

1. Top level feeling

Select the broad family that best matches your current emotional state.