Spicy Signals · Minibook 02
Fine Is Not a Feeling
A daily practice for putting feelings into words
You talk for a living. Save one word for yourself.
A 14-day check-in for people who say “I'm fine” all day long. One daily sentence helps you find the word that fits.
Instant download · fillable PDF · 30 pages · Free sampler
You can answer questions in front of a room all day and still struggle to answer a simple one for yourself: how are you, really? “Fine” gets you through the hallway. It doesn't tell you much once you get to the car.
Fine Is Not a Feeling is built on one daily sentence: “Right now I feel ___.” One word is plenty. “I'm not sure yet” counts too. The short chapters show you how to start from what you notice (a tight jaw, a clipped voice, the sentence you've read three times) and find a word that fits.
Psychologists call this affect labeling, and research has looked at how putting feelings into words relates to how emotions unfold. This minibook turns that research into a two-week practice that takes about a minute a day.
Right now I feel ___.
Try it right now
Finish one sentence
Take one minute. Start wherever you are, even if that's “fine.” Tap a word that fits this moment and hear how it sounds.
Your one-minute check-in
Anger
Sadness
Fear
Self-conscious
Ease and connection
Joy and interest
Pick up to two words. Two feelings can be true at once.
Say it to yourself
Right now I feel ___.
One word is plenty. Tap one that fits this moment.
Private by design: nothing you tap here is saved or sent.
Bad Day Dissolvers
Tap a moment to see what to say.
Look inside
Tap any page to see it up close.
What’s inside
- Four short chapters you can read in one sitting
- A fill-in “Choose your moment” practice sheet
- A 14-day habit tracker
- Five guided wellness journal pages
- Six Bad Day Dissolver cards to save on your phone or print
- A feeling word bank in six families
- Research notes on affect labeling
Made to be filled in
Type straight into the tracker, journal, and practice pages on your computer, tablet, or phone, then save your copy. Prefer paper? Every practice page and card prints cleanly.
Choose your edition
Fillable workbook
$9
- Fine Is Not a Feeling as a fillable PDF
- Tracker, journal, and cards included
- Instant download
Read it or hear it
Workbook + audio
$14
- Everything in the workbook
- The minibook read aloud by Erica (MP3)
- Listen on a walk or a commute
Not sure yet? Start with the free sampler.
The opening chapter of all three minibooks, free. Read them and see which signal sounds like you.
Questions
+What exactly do I get?
An instant download of a fillable PDF workbook: the short chapters plus the practice sheet, tracker, journal pages, and cards. Choose the audio edition to also get the minibook read aloud by me, as MP3 files.
+How do I fill it in?
Open the PDF in a free PDF reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader (computer, tablet, or phone) or Preview on a Mac. Type into the boxes, then save a copy so your entries stay. You can also print the pages and write by hand.
+How long does it take?
You can read the chapters in one sitting. The practice takes a minute or two a day for two weeks.
+Is this therapy?
No. I'm a psychology professor and researcher, and these minibooks offer education and practice tools. They aren't a substitute for care from a qualified health professional. Each book points you toward support when that would fit better.
+Are these part of Spicy Signals?
Yes. Each minibook takes one idea from my upcoming book, Spicy Signals: Decode Stress, Restore Your Energy, and Reclaim Your Calm, and turns it into a two-week practice you can start today.
