Vicent Stephen

Emotional self-awareness increases your ability to manage moods.

Keep on worrying, your problems also gets bigger and bigger.

Before things get WORSE. It is times to be BOLD, challenge your WORRIES and take ACTION on what you have been avoiding.

When worry is allowed to repeat over and over unchallenged, it grows STRONGER, gains POWER and begin to CONTROL your LIFE.

Most people instead of coming with solutions to their problems spend their time worrying on situations most of which have almost no chance of happening.

Repetitive worries train your mind to produce negative responses even to POSITIVE or life changing OPPORTUNITIES.

Get your MIND OFF the WORRIES.

STOP worrying, shift your ATTENTION toward CONSTRUCTIVE THINKING.

Learn to IDENTIFY situations that trigger your ANXIETY and actively CHALLENGE those thoughts.

Often, the FEARS you hold are what stand between you and your DREAMS.

LIFE IS WORTH LIVING, STOP WORRYING START TRULY LIVING.

Expressing out anger does not help in managing EMOTIONS but amplify FEELINGS of anger.

It is more beneficial to PAUSE, calm yourself, reflect on what happened and handle your EMOTIONS in a more constructive way.

Don’t let ANGER destroy your LIFE.

LIFE IS WORTH LIVING!

Anger Management: Take A Moment To Pause.

Although anger is a natural human emotion, it is often sparked by perceived unfairness or frustration, which are frequently driven more by feelings than by rational thought.

While anger can sometimes stem from legitimate causes, it is not always justified and can result in poor judgment, poor decision making and escalation of conflicts.

Aristotle once said, “Anybody can become angry, that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way,  that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy.”

Before allowing anger to DOMINATE you and TAKE OVER , take a moment to PAUSE and carefully EVALUATE the situation.

Emotional Control: A fundamental life skill to make ourselves feel better.

In most cases in our life everyone complains of being at the mercy of their moods/emotions, largely because our brains are wired in a way that gives us little control over when emotions arise or which emotions we experience.

Our moods and emotions, whether positive or negative, influence daily decisions. While emotions are unavoidable they need to be balanced.

Despite the fact that emotions are unavoidable, the good thing is, everyone of us can influence how long emotions last through emotional control. Importantly, our overall well-being is shaped by the balance between positive and negative emotions.

The ancient Greek concept of sophrosyne captures this idea of balance. It represents moderation, self-discipline, and inner harmony, and was considered by philosophers like Plato and Aristotle as essential for living a good and ethical life.

Sophrosyne emphasizes avoiding extreme moods or emotions, controlling impulses, and maintaining a balanced mind. Simply put, it’s about knowing your limits and acting with balance and self-discipline.

As human beings, cultivating self-control and inner strength is crucial to remain steady through life’s ups and downs, otherwise you will be overwhelmed or controlled by emotions.

An important point to note; when emotions are left uncontrolled and become too intense and persist longer, they can spiral into harmful extremes such as chronic anxiety, uncontrollable anger, or depression affecting your relationships and performance at home, work or business.

To enhance/improve our performance in all areas of our life and make ourselves feel better managing our emotions is an ongoing and full-time responsibility for everyone.

Reference: Goleman, D. (1995) Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. New York: Bantam Books.

Importance of Emotional Intelligence.

People with strong emotional intelligence tend to have the following characters;
1. They are socially confident, friendly, and cheerful.

2. They are not easily overwhelmed by fear or persistent worry.

3. They show a strong ability to dedicate themselves to people or meaningful causes.

4. They willingly take responsibility, and maintain a solid sense of ethics.

5. They are sympathetic and caring in their relationships.

6. They are comfortable with themselves, others and the society at large.

Like other skills and abilities, emotional intelligence can be cultivated, developed and strengthened over time.

Self Awareness |Self Control |Social Awareness |Relationship Management|

 Reference: Emotional Intelligence - Daniel Goleman

People who are more confident in understanding their emotions and can track them in real time are better able to direct their lives.

When we fail to recognize and monitor our true feelings, we become controlled by them.

Interpersonal Intelligence: A Critical Competency for Effective Leadership

Interpersonal intelligence is widely recognized as a vital skill for successful leadership. Psychologist Howard Gardner of the Harvard Graduate School of Education identifies interpersonal intelligence as one of the most significant forms of intelligence for leaders.

According to Gardner, interpersonal intelligence refers to the ability to understand others—their motivations, working styles, and how to collaborate effectively with them. He further explains that this intelligence involves the capacity to recognize and appropriately respond to the moods, temperaments, motivations, and desires of people.

In most cases, individuals who excel as leaders, sales professionals, politicians, teachers, clinicians, and religious figures often demonstrate high levels of interpersonal intelligence.

For those who aspire to leadership roles, developing strong interpersonal or “people” skills is essential for guiding others and building high-performing teams.



Reference: Emotional Intelligence - Daniel Goleman

Understanding Emotional Intelligence:
 
Emotional intelligence includes being able to motivate yourself, stay strong during difficulties, control impulses, manage your emotions, and understand others’ feelings. It also includes having hope.

Research shows that emotional intelligence can be just as important as Intelligent Quotient (IQ), and sometimes even more important.

Emotional intelligence helps people do better at work and in life. People who understand and manage their own emotions, and understand others’ feelings, have an advantage in relationships and at work.

They are usually happier, more productive, and think more clearly. People who cannot control their emotions often struggle with inner conflicts, focus and effectiveness.



Reference: Emotional Intelligence - Daniel Goleman

The Role of Emotions in Rational Decision Making:

As humans, we possess two interconnected systems of intelligence: rational and emotional. Our success in life is shaped by the interaction of both minds.

It is not IQ alone that determines how well we function, but also emotional intelligence. Intellect alone cannot operate at its highest capacity without emotional awareness.

Neuroscientist Dr. Antonio Damasio argues that feelings are indispensable to rational decision-making because emotions help streamline and guide our choices.

According to Damasio, the emotional brain is just as involved in reasoning as the thinking brain. The emotional mind continuously influences our moment to moment decisions, working in close partnership with rational thought. Emotions, therefore, are essential to rationality rather than obstacles to it.

Research has established that the emotional and rational brains function as full partners in mental life. When these two brains interact effectively, emotional intelligence increases alongside intellectual ability.

It is therefore important for everyone to strive to achieve an intelligent balance between emotion and reasoning, to harmonize the head and the heart.

To thrive in life as well as achieving peak performance in our life, we must develop a deeper understanding of how to use our emotions intelligently, allowing them to support rather than undermine our day to day rational decision making.



Reference: Emotional Intelligence - Daniel Goleman

A role to play to our Children: Long- term emotional stress can weaken a child’s thinking skills and make learning difficult.

One study looked at primary school boys who had high IQ scores but were still doing poorly in school. The aim was to understand why they struggled academically despite being intelligent.

The study found that these boys had problems with the part of the brain responsible for thinking. They were often anxious, impulsive, disruptive, and frequently got into trouble. The study showed that the thinking part of the brain was not able to control the emotional part.

Even though these boys were intellectually capable, they were at a high risk of academic failure, alcohol abuse, and criminal behavior not because they lacked intelligence, but because they could not manage their emotions.

Our emotional systems are shaped by childhood experiences, and leaving these experiences to chance can be harmful. Childhood experiences influence how we feel, think, and learn. Therefore, parents should guide their children’s experiences, since unmanaged experiences can affect their future thinking and learning abilities.

SelfAwareness # SelfControl # Social Awareness

Reference: Emotional Intelligence - Daniel Goleman