In this four-part post, I am exploring the discomfort of working with negative emotions. If you missed yesterday’s introduction, you could find it here https://leadingforchange.ca/?p=9680 (Working with emotions).

If the emotion is yours, the first step is to name the emotion. Leave out any interpretation, judgement, and caveats you might consider. You just need to say something like, “I feel .”

You might say happy, angry, sad or whatever you’re feeling. There is no wrong answer to this step, as it is your emotion. Naming your emotion will not change anything, but you might prevent an explosion like venting a pressure cooker.

When people come to you emotionally, do not assume you know what they are feeling. Instead of assuming, ask them to name what they are feeling. When they name it, you will be working with their truth and not your assumption.

Next, you will want to go deeper into the emotion to understand the impact. But that’s a topic for tomorrow.

Until then, you’ve got this.