Adopting a Success Attitude
BUILDING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Everyone is entitled to feelings — good, bad, or ugly. When we have negative feelings, it’s important to recognize them, try to understand them, and respond to them in healthy ways. This exercise will help you reflect on negative feelings you’ve had and how you reacted. If you find that your reaction had negative consequences, you can think about how you’ll handle things differently in the future.
From the following list of feeling words, choose five emotions that you experienced in the last week. Then, respond to the questions below for each emotion you’ve identified. An example is provided.
Feeling Words
| irritated | aggressive | resentful | provoked | disappointed | helpless |
| embarrassed | shy | distrustful | pessimistic | discouraged | lonely |
| sorrowful | crushed | offended | anxious | preoccupied | fearful |
| What emotion did you experience? | Embarrassed |
| What caused this emotion? | I responded incorrectly to a question in class. |
| How did you respond? | I left class early and skipped the next class. |
| What was the consequence? | I missed a quiz and was given 0 points. |
| If appropriate, provide an alternate response | If this happens again, I’ll tell myself it’s okay to be wrong and will remain in class to seek the right answers. |