TFA App
- John Dodds
THINK, FEEL, ACT Cards Application- Your digital tool for emotional intelligence
Assess a recent decision, Plan a solution, Solve a conflict, Become more self-aware
Think, Feel, Act cards are an amazing tool that helps bring your emotional intelligence into focus – so you can see more clearly and act more deliberately.
The TFA Cards were designed for open-ended experimentation and innovation. Play with these digital cards and discover new ways to bring emotional intelligence into your work and life. Please read and share your ideas of how you have used the cards on the TFA Cards’ information page: www.6seconds.org/tools/tfa
Add to cards, save, load, delete
Before we get into an exercise lets quickly run through how the app works.
In each category you will see the “+” at the bottom of the column. Click on this to add cards.
You can either, type your own thoughts, feelings and actions or choose from our default options.
If you add a card you didn’t intend to or want to remove one of them, simply click the X next to the added card.
Once you have your thoughts, feelings and actions recorded, you can save the deck for comparison or just to have for later.
To Load a saved deck, simply click “load deck” at the top of the app and they will be there for you to choose from.
Now that you know the basic functionality of the application here are some activities you can use for yourself or your clients.
Note: The instructions are for someone using the app with a client or friend, but you can use the same activities and questions on yourself.
TFA Exercise 1: Reflecting on a Reaction
Summary: This exercise helps someone understand how they reacted and to plan for a more effective response.
Select cards to describe a reaction & discuss the results
Select cards for a more ideal response
Discuss how to move from the original reaction to the desired response
1. Original Reaction
In this step, the participant identifies what actually happened.
Start with an empty deck for the participant. They can start in any column: Think, Feel, Act.
Ask: “Think of a recent situation that did not work out in an optimal way, or where you wish you had reacted differently.” Once a situation has been identified, continue; it’s not important to share the situation now.
Say: “In this situation, you had a mixture of thoughts, feelings, and actions. Please choose a statement to represent how you thought, felt, or what you did.” Show them how to scroll through and pick from one column (the participant can start with any).
You can choose more than one card from a column if needed, for example, you might have two Act cards if you had two different actions, or an action “that’s somewhere in between” two cards. If no cards are close, you can create a new card by typing your own. Once they have selected one type of card (e.g., “Action”) then have them select cards from another stack (e.g., “Feeling”) and then the third stack. The sequence is up to the participant; some people find it easier to notice their own actions, while others tend to start with their feelings or thoughts. You might note the sequence and discuss this at a later time.
Ask the participant to tell you about the cards they selected. Depending on the desired length of conversation, you can go into depth or keep this brief. It’s possible to explore patterns, causes of feeling, reasons for behavior, etc. Since we know this situation did not resolve optimally (since that was the initial instruction), it can also be useful to discuss “Consequential Thinking” – the impact of decisions.
2. Alternate Response
Now, the participant can consider how would prefer to respond in the future.
Save the original deck and load the deck again. (this will help you see what the original reaction was in the future)
Original Reaction
Desired Response
Ask: “If you were in a similar situation again, is there any one of these that you would like to be different?” Invite them to select a new card (they can choose to
switch a T, F, or an A card). To replace a card, they can click X next to the card and click + to find a new option.
Ask: “So if you’d changed X (card), would anything else change?” Or, “Are there any other cards that would need to change to support that?” Or, “If you change that, would it affect the other two?” Perhaps they will want to keep one (or more) cards if they were in the situation again, or they will end up with a completely new set of cards.
Save this new deck so you can load the two sets separately: The original reaction and the desired response (see illustration above, which shows someone having changed all three cards).
Discuss the new set. Ask: “What results might you have with this new response?” Or, “How would it be to feel, think, and do this instead?” If time allows, discuss further, for example, “What would be some of the consequences of this response, for you and others?” Or, “How does this align with your vision and values?”
Ideally the new set will seem viable and effective – if not, perhaps he needs to adjust this alternate response.
3. Moving from Reaction to Response.
Finally, the participant considers how to make the new set of cards come to life. Ask: “Would you like to utilize this new response in the future?” If yes, discuss some of these questions: “What might make that challenging or stop you?” “How could you make this happen?” “What are some steps you could take?” “Is there any preparation you could do now that would increase the likelihood of you using the
new response?” “What could remind you to use the new response instead of the old pattern?”
(If no, then perhaps go back to choose different cards.)
Clarify your commitment and conclude.