Emotional Intelligence Tool - The Feelings Wheel

Hey there, 2021.  I know this year - like all years - will have it's ups and downs.  I'm thinking, this Emotion or Feelings Wheel will help me and others stay in a somewhat rational mindset.  You know what we say in coaching, "Name it to tame it."  Name the emotion to tame it, so it does not over-run you.

There are a few, free versions of the Feelings Wheel online.  The one above is from Calm (and includes credit to the originator, Dr. Gloria Wilcox).  You can download the one above for free in color or black + white (which could be fun to color in yourself).  A lovely coach and colleague, Amy from Ovation Coaching, originally introduced the Feelings Wheel to me.  Thanks, Amy!

AND, for all of you picking your word for 2021, maybe one of the words off the wheel could be your pick.

With curiosity and joy (I picked those two from the wheel!),

Jen

Nurturing Emotional Intelligence

UPDATE:  Want more?  Check out this blog post, too.  This feelings wheel rules!

As Lil O gets older, I need to step up my "game" in helping her build resiliency and emotional intelligence.  If you can't remember what that's all about, you can start here with the Marshmallow post.

Or, you if haven't used HALTED, consider using it.  It is a personal favorite of mine.  I think all humans (age 8 and older) should understand how to HALT themselves.  I HALT myself all the time.

In efforts to step up my game, I plan to embrace the easy suggestions in this article from Vanderbilt University.  My next two tasks with Lil O will be: 1) to teach her HALTED (I think she is old enough to understand the acronym and its use) and 2) To start working on her understanding of feeling words like the list above (from the same article).

Feeling brave and excited (Hey, look!  I used two new feelings words),

Jen

UPDATE:  New post here...because really?  Can you have enough Emotional Intelligence posts?  I think not.

HALTED

Update: Here's another post to support this...the Feelings Wheel.

This one is seriously one of my favorite strategies to teach students of all ages (and adults).  It is a way to describe your emotional state when you are feeling less-than-perfect.  Since I am an adult, I use HALTED to dissect how I am feeling.  My husband will attest to the fact that I am not myself when I am feeling "H" - hungry.  I know I am not myself when I am feeling "T" - tired.  Since little O is young, I think of HALTED when she is acting out-of-sorts or experiencing a melt-down.  I run through the acronym in my mind to figure out what is driving her behavior and in doing so, I am able to better help her.

Ready to HALT yourself?

Are you feeling....

H - Hungry?
A - Angry?
L - Lonely?
T - Tired?
E - Embarrassed?
D - Disappointed?

Some days I think, HALTED-OS might also be helpful:

O - Overwhelmed?
S - Scared?

I would love to give credit to the student who taught me HALT a decade ago.  Since that time, my college students and I have added the ED and OS parts.

Do you have other tools that help humans express their emotions or at least recognize their emotional state?  Daniel Goleman has said the first part of emotional intelligence is self-awareness. 

With HALTED, we are on our way.

Jen

PS - I think little O might be ready to be formally taught the acronym.  The other morning she woke up incredibly cranky.  For at least five minutes she was giving me a hard time about nothing.  Then, I ran through the acronym in my mind and said, "Are you hungry?"  I didn't even need to get to the other letters because she agreed, she was hungry.  I ran to the kitchen, grabbed a string cheese, she devoured it and was a new person in minutes.  The rest of our morning was enjoyable.

PSS - Here's the link to the Feelings Wheel.