Reflection: In a recent Pause message, Could You Be A More Reassuring Presence, I shared a few ideas for supporting others when things go sideways in their lives.
But what if it’s an event in your own life that’s giving you grief? How can you avoid getting unnecessarily bent out of shape when life sends a mind-bending challenge your way? How do you handle your own reactions when things go wrong?
Action: Here’s a five-step approach to bring relief and help you find your way back to a more even keel. (more…)
Reflection: Partner a fast pace with huge expectations and minimal down time, and you’ve got all the necessary ingredients for a big old vat of ‘sweet’n’sour stress soup’.
Like steam off a stockpot, emotions will run high – guaranteed! The challenge is to know how to deal with them without getting burned.
This is where EI – Emotional Intelligence – comes into play. If it’s been a while since you were introduced to EI, or are meeting the concept for the first time, here’s a short refresher.
EI is based on Awareness and Management of feelings – within ourselves and between ourselves and others.
On the inside, how aware of you of your own emotional states, and how skilled are you in controlling your responses and managing your own reactions to events?
On the outside, how attuned are you to the emotional states of others, and how skilled are you in managing those relationships with others when feelings run high?
At the core of EI in action is the ability to tune in and name the emotions and also consider what needs they might signal.
Action: I’ve been thinking about the whole business of interpretation and wondering how we might use emotions and our insights about them as a way to guide what we do next.
Here’s an attempt to interpret the underlying meaning of a few of the emotions likely to cross our paths and minds. (more…)
