An Easy Technique to Turn Feelings Into Action

When  you meet someone whether it’s a friend or stranger and ask about an event or how they are doing usually the response is “I feel like it was good, or I feel good”... what does that mean?  How does their definition of “good” measure up to yours? Are you even on the same page? Everyone uses subjective type words, such as “good” or “okay.” In your business and personal life you need to try and have a quantifiable index to help gauge exactly where the other person is coming from.

Quantify the feeling

There are ways to build systems to be able to quantify feelings and create actionable items.  Try to get on the same page as the other person by asking them to rate their feelings on a scale of one to ten.  You will find that one persons “feel good” may rank at an eight, when in your mind an eight would be fantastic or terrific.  

When you have a quantifiable ranking for the person’s feelings then help turn that into actions. For example you are the team leader and one of your agents has a goal set for themselves, and they did not meet that goal, then conversation would sound like this:

Agent: I feel like I tried my best and I really wanted to make my goal

You: On a scale of 1 - 10 how committed are you to achieving this goal?

Agent: Oh for sure 9 or a 10

You: That’s great! Now let’s take a look at your actions, how well did it reflect your commitment to achieving your goal, on a scale of 1 - 10?

Agent: (pauses to think) I’d say about a 6 or a 7

Match the intention with an action plan

Let them self discover that their actions did not match their intentions and discuss the reasons why, this will help guide them to success. You can help them by discovering and planning out action items to support reaching their goals. The magic of this technique is you went from “I feel like…” and quantified the feelings so that you can then turn it into action items.

Take the feelings and make them quantifiable, get on the same page see the disparity between intentions and actions,  and then create a solution of a plan and action items. By following the one to ten ranking system you can take feelings and quantify them and create actionable items to move forward and be successful.

What to listen for in this episode:

• Feelings can be misleading [:57]
• How to turn feelings into actions [1:53]
• A business example [2:44]
• Emotion based feelings need clarification [6:59]
• Use the technique in your personal life [8:58]
• Get the unfiltered honest feedback [11:20]

If you have any questions about this topic, setup a free strategy call with one of our experts here.