What is emodiversity?

The leaders I coach know emotional intelligence (EI) is vital to lead sustainably. Though there are many ways of assessing our EI, a simple way is just making a list of the emotions you can both name and experience.

Try it, right now. How many could you name? If you didn’t get far, you’re not alone. Over a five year period, Brené Brown asked over seven thousand people to make a similar list. The average number of emotions people could list was three: happy, sad, angry.

In “Atlas of the Heart,” Brown listed 87 emotions, and there are countless more.

This exercise is an indicator of what’s called our “emodiversity.” Just as greater diversity in a forest or a garden makes it more resilient against bad weather and insects, the more emotions we can access, the greater our emotional intelligence will be. And the greater our emotional intelligence, the better equipped we’ll be to navigate adversity.

The difference between our emotional lives and a garden, though, is that we don’t have to plant anything new. Our emotions—all 87 that Brown names—are already there. We just need to notice them.

The more we can name those emotions with precision—what Brown calls “emotional granularity”—the easier noticing them will be. That’s why listing and naming are so important.

So what can you do if you, like me, struggle with this exercise?

First, read up on emotions. After all, if you want to become more aware of our emotional lives, we need to know what we’re looking for. Books like Brown’s “Atlas of the Heart” and websites can be helpful resources, because they both name and define emotions in ways that make them easier to spot.

Second, expand your list. After some reading or googling, consider what emotions you feel regularly—and what emotions you wish you could feel more often. Add them to your list.

Third, notice. Pick one emotion from the list. Over a day, take a moment to notice that emotion whenever it arises—no matter how faint that emotion is. What’s it feel like to experience it? What do you notice in your body? What might it be telling you about what you need?

If we do this enough, we can go a long way to deepening our emodiversity—and strengthening how we respond to life.

Want to become more emotionally resilient? Book your free Discovery Session here.