What Can An Emotional Audit Tool Do For You?

3/28/2022

emotional audit tool for executive women

How did taking the time to think Big Picture go for you last week?
Were you able to guard the one hour or more you put on your calendar and say ‘no’ to everything else?
Did you have more confidence that you were focusing on the right things?

This week we are focusing on decompressing, especially around working with our emotions.
Most of us feel the heightened intensity of the world we live in right now. Work is full of pressures and constant change. Worldwide we are all feeling the lingering pressures of the pandemic and our emotions are more intense, too.

We need processes that can help us decompress on the spot.
Recently, I connected to a zoom presentation called Changing Leadership in Changing Times hosted by the Performance Excellence Network (PEN).

One of the panelists, Mary Engels, Sr. Director of Organization Development at Essentia Health, shared a tool called Emotional Audit that they use with their leaders to help them decompress.

Week 8 - Monday Moment Habit Creator
The first step in the Emotional Audit tool is to Pause and remember to breathe for 90 seconds.

Then ask yourself these 5 questions:

Right now, what am I thinking?
Right now, what am I feeling?
Right now, what do I want?
Is there any way I’m getting in my own way?
What do I need to do differently?

And for those of you who pride yourself on being right; ask yourself this additional question: What is more important, being RIGHT or the RELATIONSHIP?

I love the Emotional Audit tool with these specific steps because the questions can quickly get us in touch with what’s going on within us; especially when we feel tense, frustrated, or stuck.

I also like these questions because they help us get in touch with our thinking, which often drives our emotions. It reminds me of the concept that whatever happens in life is neutral. It’s the story we create around what happened that makes us feel positive or negative about the situation and thus drives how we feel about it.

My invitation to you this week is to test drive the Emotional Audit tool. You can use it to build more awareness when something is going well and you’re feeling lots of pleasant emotions or you can use it to understand what’s going on within you during a time of unpleasant emotion.

Try using it daily and at different times of the day to give you insight into what triggers you and to help guide you to remain in that calm state of being more often.

I hope you find it useful. Let me know how it works for you. I’ll be using it too.

If this Monday Moment resonated with you, please feel free to share it with a friend or colleague, and remember, if you ever feel stuck, I’m here to help.

Quick Reminder:

Mid-Level Women Manager Cohort kicks off on April 7th.
2022 Executive Women's Change Leadership Roundtable kicks off at the end of April.

Seats are filling up fast! If you're interested you can email me, schedule a 20-minute: click here or enroll online.

Have a great week!
Warm regards,