Our feelings are our most genuine paths to knowledge. - Audre Lorde

The foundation of emotional intelligence is an ability to perceive and identify emotions. "Emotional Literacy" expresses the notion that there are simple building blocks that anyone can learn to help them identify and communicate about emotions.

As you enhance your emotional literacy you will almost immediately experience a more positive relationship with feelings. Rather than being at the mercy of your own and others' feelings, you'll increasingly find feelings to be a source of strength and insight. Maybe the best news is you can develop this awareness with little effort, no expense, and you begin to get the payoff almost instantly! Mastery, of course, takes a long-term commitment.

PUFI Emotions:

To begin to enhance your emotional literacy, remember that emotions are PUFI:

• Primal
• Universal
• Functional
• Infectious

Primal

Emotions are a hard-wired, core force for safety. They help us survive in the complex, changing world of pack animals that we are. They give us data about others, and alert us when we're fooling ourselves.

Universal

Everyone has emotions (even when they pretend not to), and the basic emotions that you have are identical to those experienced by everyone else in the world. While people express and interpret emotions differently, the basics are the same. And, they are all around -- though it might be convenient to check our feelings at the door, we only stop feeling when we're unconscious (and maybe not even then!).

Functional

Emotions serve a valuable purpose. They carry messages -- but because most of us have not developed our emotional literacy effectively, this information is often misunderstood. Emotional data signals us about other people and our own subconscious. Emotions also contain energy to help us solve problems. ALL emotions have a function -- even when they also "cause problems." By focusing on the value, the functionality, we can begin to learn from our feelings.

Infectious

Feelings are a non-verbal communication that affects others. Our emotional systems are "built" to detect feelings from others (part of the Primal function!). So we're constantly scanning, on the lookout for feelings around us. In this case, "infectious" is not all bad -- sometimes they are contagions for trust, hope, and caring.

Even when we try to hide them, our feelings are being expressed in subtle ways -- and others pick up hundreds of small cues. Again, sometimes the cues are misunderstood -- especially when we're trying to pretend feelings that don't exist. You are always sending emotional signals -- so pay attention to what you're communicating!

This month see if you can't recognize these four truths in action. For now, just notice! Make it a detective game with yourself: How many times each day can you recognize emotions doing their PUFI things?

Later we'll give you some tips on specific emotions and decoding the hidden messages that make emotions so rich.

Warmly yours,

Joshua Freedman is the Director of the Six Seconds' Institute for Healthcare Leadership, a nonprofit organization bringing 35 years of emotional intelligence expertise to improve leadership, enhance climate, and reduce turnover.