How are you?
Please, don't answer ‘good.’ Life's too short for meaningless chitchat. Your emotional vocabulary is one the highest indicators of strong EQ and vital to your well-being. It:
Helps you connect to (and process) your feelings. Naming a feeling has been scientifically proven to help you deal with it. There is a big difference in how you’d approach being sad vs. hurt, or thankful vs. proud. When you identify the underlying emotion, it feels more manageable.
Increases the emotional literacy of your children.Children need a large pool of words to express their emotions and read other’s cues. Wide emotional vocabulary has been shown to lead to developmentally sophisticated relationships for your kids.
Prevents you from throttling happiness. You feel what you say. Saying, ‘good’ when you are really ‘ecstatic’ discounts (and decreases) your actual emotion. Fully feel!
Helps you connect with others. Communicating your emotional nuances brings people into your experience, connecting you more deeply.
Let’s try this again. How are you?
Glorious?
Moved?
Energetic?
Restless?
Frustrated?
Bored?
Inspired?
Goofy?
If you need help, pick from these. Right now I’m stimulated.
Your challenge: For a week, ‘good’ is not allowed. Take a second to think about your current emotion and answer mindfully.
How are you?
