{"id":140064,"date":"2025-01-18T14:41:47","date_gmt":"2025-01-18T18:41:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=140064"},"modified":"2026-01-22T13:36:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T17:36:28","slug":"how-to-connect-with-your-emotions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-connect-with-your-emotions\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Connect With Your Emotions: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/whats-holding-you-back\/\">What&#8217;s holding you back<\/a> from truly understanding your deepest desires? How can you better recognize the emotions that guide your daily choices?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Learning how to connect with your emotions is a transformative journey that begins with self-examination. In <em>The Desire Map<\/em>, Danielle LaPorte offers a fresh approach to goal-setting by focusing on feelings rather than actions. She helps you explore your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/clarifying-your-values\/\">core values<\/a>, natural talents, and what brings you genuine joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read more to discover powerful questions and practical techniques that will help you unlock a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-understand-anything-deeply\/\">deeper understanding<\/a> of yourself and your emotional landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-connect-with-your-emotions\">Connect With Your Emotions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>LaPorte says that you should set goals that reflect <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/your-genius\/\">who you are<\/a> and fulfill your deep-seated desires, but you may find that you don\u2019t really <em>know <\/em>who you are and what you want. Therefore, <strong>the first step in this process is to conduct a thorough examination of yourself.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>LaPorte offers advice on how to connect with your emotions and desires, sharing a series of questions that help get you into a reflective mindset. She encourages you to answer each question with a sentence or two. A few of these questions include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/finding-your-values\/\">What are your values<\/a>? <\/strong>Think about which personal qualities are most important to you and which qualities you can\u2019t stand in yourself or others. Alternatively, consider which core beliefs (religious or secular) guide your day-to-day actions.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-find-what-makes-you-happy\/\">What brings you joy<\/a>? <\/strong>For example, this might be a loved one or a pet, a certain activity that you really enjoy, or a material possession that\u2019s very important to you.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>What do you naturally excel at? <\/strong>Think about where your natural talents and interests lie.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Why do you push through difficult situations? <\/strong>Note that the question is not <em>how<\/em>, but <em>why<\/em>\u2014think about what keeps you going when you\u2019re frustrated, tired, or upset.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>What do you want more of in your life? <\/strong>LaPorte urges you to think of answers beyond \u201ctime\u201d and \u201cmoney,\u201d because those things are just means to an end. For example, if you feel lonely, then you likely want more love in your life; if you\u2019re often bored, then perhaps you want more purpose.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>Ikigai: Your Life\u2019s Purpose<\/strong><br><br>LaPorte\u2019s method of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-figure-out-what-you-want-in-life-2\/\">figuring out what you want in life<\/a> closely resembles the Japanese idea of finding your <em>ikigai<\/em>: your reason for being. In their <a href=\"https:\/\/shortform.com\/app\/book\/ikigai\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">book of the same name<\/a>, self-help writers H\u00e9ctor Garc\u00eda and Francesc Miralles say that you can find your ikigai by <a href=\"https:\/\/shortform.com\/app\/book\/ikigai\/part-1#your-reason-for-being\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">answering four questions<\/a>:<br><br><strong>1. What do you love to do? <\/strong>This is similar to LaPorte\u2019s suggestion to ask what brings you joy, but Garc\u00eda and Miralles ask you to focus on tasks: What activities do you really enjoy doing? What tasks tend to bring a sense of satisfaction once they\u2019re done?<br><br><strong>2. What <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-good-are-you\/\">are you good<\/a> at? <\/strong>This is the same as LaPorte\u2019s question: What do you naturally excel at?<br><br><strong>3. What does the world need? <\/strong>People tend to find fulfillment in being useful to others\u2014and this is especially true in Japanese culture, which places far less importance on individualism than many Western cultures do. Therefore, this question asks how you can make yourself useful: What can you do to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hub\/society-culture\/how-to-make-the-world-a-better-place\/\">make the world a better place<\/a> in some small way?<br><br><strong>4. What can you get paid to do? <\/strong>Unless you\u2019re lucky enough to be independently wealthy, your life\u2019s purpose will have to be something that you can sustain yourself with.<br><br>First, answer each question separately, then look for answers that recur. For example, maybe you\u2019re good at caretaking <em>and <\/em>the world needs more of that. Anything that meets all four criteria is a good candidate for your ikigai.<br><br>However, in the context of <em>The Desire Map<\/em>, note that the concept of ikigai is based on the traditional method of goal-setting: It focuses on what you want to <em>do<\/em>. This is the primary way that it differs from LaPorte\u2019s approach of determining how you want to <em>feel.\u00a0<\/em><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-self-connection-and-self-reflection-are-ongoing-processes\">Self-Connection and Self-Reflection Are Ongoing Processes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>LaPorte adds that recognizing and connecting with your innermost feelings is an everyday practice, not just something you do once and then forget about. She encourages developing emotional literacy through various means like art, music, and literature\u2014<strong>indulge in experiences that evoke strong feelings inside of you, and pay attention to what those feelings are.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can also learn more about emotions through your interactions with other people. Those experiences not only give you the opportunity to reflect on your own feelings but to study other people\u2019s emotional responses as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Recall that your feelings, whether positive or negative, give you important feedback about the situations you find yourself in and the actions you take. Therefore, LaPorte urges you to pay continual special attention to the things that make you feel grateful as you go through your daily life\u2014like your family and friends, your job, your hobbies, your health, and so on. <strong>Anything that you feel grateful for is fulfilling some deep-seated desire, even if you aren\u2019t yet sure what that desire is.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You should also pay attention to what brings up feelings of frustration, dread, or boredom. LaPorte says such feelings are signs that some part of your life isn\u2019t aligned with your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/true-desires\/\">true desires<\/a>. It\u2019s not always possible to change those parts of your life right away\u2014for example, even if you dread going to work, you\u2019re most likely not in a position to simply quit without first lining up a new source of income\u2014but this is still important information that warrants further consideration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>Tip: Improve Your Understanding by Increasing Your Vocabulary<\/strong><br><br>One obstacle that hinders many people from understanding their feelings is a lack of vocabulary to describe those feelings.<br><br>In <a href=\"https:\/\/shortform.com\/app\/book\/atlas-of-the-heart\/1-page-summary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Atlas of the Heart<\/em><\/a>, Bren\u00e9 Brown says that many people are only able to identify three emotions: sadness, happiness, and anger. As a result, even if they try to connect with their feelings like LaPorte discusses here, they won\u2019t fully understand <em>what <\/em>they\u2019re feeling. To remedy this, Brown suggests expanding your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/emotional-granularity\/\">emotional vocabulary<\/a> as part of self-connection and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-self-reflect\/\">self-reflection<\/a>.<br><br>For example, Brown defines happiness simply as <a href=\"https:\/\/shortform.com\/app\/book\/atlas-of-the-heart\/1-page-summary#when-things-are-going-well-happiness\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">being pleased with your current situation<\/a>. The definition is intentionally broad and vague, leaving room for you to explore what specific kind of pleasure you\u2019re feeling. If you experience something that makes you briefly but intensely happy, you\u2019re feeling <em>joy<\/em>. On the other hand, if you\u2019ve just finished your work for the week and you\u2019re now going into the weekend with a sense of calm satisfaction, you\u2019re experiencing <em>tranquility.<\/em><br><br>Furthermore, while joy and tranquility could both be called \u201chappiness,\u201d they\u2019re very different from one another, and the word happiness doesn\u2019t fully explain either of them. Therefore, this example highlights the importance of knowing the right words to understand and identify your specific emotions.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What&#8217;s holding you back from truly understanding your deepest desires? How can you better recognize the emotions that guide your daily choices? Learning how to connect with your emotions is a transformative journey that begins with self-examination. In The Desire Map, Danielle LaPorte offers a fresh approach to goal-setting by focusing on feelings rather than actions. She helps you explore your core values, natural talents, and what brings you genuine joy. Read more to discover powerful questions and practical techniques that will help you unlock a deeper understanding of yourself and your emotional landscape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":140072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,43],"tags":[1726],"class_list":["post-140064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychology","category-self-improvement","tag-the-desire-map","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Connect With Your Emotions: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You can unlock a deeper understanding of yourself and your emotional landscape. 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