Luckily, I had a call with my business coach on the calendar. I held off on the idea until we talked, and our conversation helped me see that the project would need more resources than I'd originally thought.
So my coach and I talked about why I liked the idea. That discussion helped me come up with a different option—a way I could use one of my current projects for similar results (without making something new).
Why celebrate a project that didn'thappen? Well, I've worked hard to grow my EQ, or emotional intelligence, and self-awareness is a big part of that. Any “pause” that helps me manage my impulses with kindness and intentionality—I know that's worth celebrating.
(Admittedly, I then called my Co-Editor and said, ‘Can we switch the next issue of 8&21 to be about EQ? I have a new idea for a story!’ 🤣)
- Dr. Sarah Glova, Co-Editor of 8&21 with a Bias toward “New”
It's a practice
I am the kind of person who needs to plan to be spontaneous. I want a plan for everything (and a backup plan, and a backup plan for the backup plan). Intellectually, I know this is impossible. And as teaching, parenting, and navigating the pandemic has shown me—you can’t plan for every eventuality. So, I keep practicing my flexibility, every day.
Improving emotional intelligence takes practice. And one way that I practice flexibility is by setting aside unplanned time. Ok, yes, this is still planning, but baby steps are part of practicing!
And I try to embrace opportunities to practice my flexibility (for instance, by going along with a last-minute change to an 8&21 theme).
- Dr. Sarah Egan Warren, Co-Editor of 8&21 and Daily Flexibility-Practicer
Emotional intelligence
“What is it, this mysterious emotional intelligence? When most people think of it, they stop at the term ‘emotional’.
What do you connect to it? I'd say it has a bad connotation, describing a person having or expressing strong feelings…
However, it's crucial to differentiate between emotional and the value that emotional intelligence can have, because emotional intelligence is something fundamentally different. It's the ability to identify and manage your emotions and those of others, and it's set to include three skills: (1) Emotional awareness, so empathy towards others but also towards the self, (2) the ability to harness emotions and apply them to tasks like problem solving, and (3) the ability to manage emotions, which includes regulating your own emotions but also calming down or cheering up other people.
As you can clearly see by this contrast, very emotional people do not necessarily or automatically have a high emotional intelligence.”
Summary of a quote from Six steps to improve your emotional intelligence, Ramona Hacker, TEDx
Great job!
Way to take a pause and give 3 minutes to your practice of pursuing awesome
by exploring this issue's theme. You rock!
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