Our emotional awareness influences our interactions and responses to other people. During a recent webinar, I encouraged the attendees to complete an exercise where they identified factors that trigger their response, determine their usual response to the trigger, and then consider alternative, more beneficial responses they could make.
Here’s the model, complete it for yourself – what are your triggers? What are your responses? How could you respond differently (and more effectively)? I have provided a couple of examples to help get you started.
| Trigger | Usual Behaviour (response) | Effectiveness of response | Alternative response | Effectiveness of response |
| Someone challenging your decision | Argue
Defend Back down Ignore |
|||
| Lack of recognition | Disbelief
Question your abilities Confusion |
An essential part of this exercise is to evaluate the effectiveness of your usual behaviour (response) before deciding whether you need to choose an alternate response, then evaluate your choice of that alternative.
By carrying out the self-evaluation component of this exercise, you will know whether your usual response is helpful or not, or that your alternative response will engender a different, desirable outcome.