Behaviour Chain Analysis Worksheet

The email you sent at eleven at night didn't come from nowhere. Something set it off, a thought followed, then a feeling, and by the time you pressed send, the decision had been made several links earlier.

Chain analysis slows that down until you can see the links. It comes from behavioural therapy, and in my view it's one of the most practical things that tradition has handed to the rest of us.

Three worksheets

• Event, thought, emotion, action: one recent incident, link by link, with each emotion rated out of ten and the alternatives you could have taken
• The behavioural pathway: what left you vulnerable that day, what tipped it, what went on inside, and what everyone else saw
• The action-reaction cycle: how your response landed on the people around you, and how theirs fed back into yours

Each one ends with an action plan and a date to look at it again. The question I'd pay most attention to is on the first sheet: at what point did you have the most control? It's usually earlier than you'd think.

Use it on one real incident, ideally from the last week. Done on "how I tend to react", it turns into an essay about your personality and changes nothing.

Also in: Strategic Self-Leadership, £17.

For coaches: it's in the Coaches Starter Library, with one licence for every client you see.

PDF, instant download, and yours to use as often as you like. If it doesn't help, email me within seven days and I'll refund you.