EI: Treasuring Our Work
Pulse of Potential
Potential is like buried treasure. It waits to be discovered. When the treasure of Emotional Intelligence is unlocked, it builds our self-worth. Our potential is easy to find. It is in every moment of life. And the mechanism to locate it? Our awareness. Awareness in itself is an infinite treasure. Without it, the meaning we gather from life could not take place. This life of responsibilities; a member of complex society. Our never-ending work tasks. Our constant thoughts and feelings. All of this persistently arises. So we bring our awareness to this persistence. And we start to see that parts of this persistence we are actually able to work with. It is good material for growth. To take dependable and enjoyable steps on our paths. From this, our unique brilliance shines, our very own ‘Golden Gift’ – that we share with the world.
We can be conscious of the ‘workable’ parts of life. In the Beyond Emotional Intelligence (BEI) Course, this is called ‘Areas of Influence.’ When we consistently work with these ‘workable influences’ in life, we create a valuable, reliable skill. This benefits our energy and outlook – the pulse of potential. When we expend energy on trying to control the uncontrollable, we weaken this pulse. It also tells us that we are living a life ‘we don’t want’ and ‘there’s nothing we can do about it.’ It prevents us from noticing opportunities where influence is possible. But we can move toward a life ‘we want,’ where ‘there’s something we can do about it.’
We have no control over what happened in the past. We interact with others, but cannot control their response, informed by their own emotions. We are not able to fully anticipate events in the future. We are able, however, to use all of these as opportunities to be better equipped in the present. This shift in energy and outlook literally turns our life around. The turning point, of course, is with the mind.
Influencing Self
This ‘turning point’ is about navigating, what BEI calls, the ‘Four Gateways of Influence.’ These have to do with: 1) focusing the mind; 2) being present with the body; 3) formulating positive story-telling; 4) putting actions in place. These ‘Gateways’ we can cycle through, or explore any of them in any order, at any time. It all contributes to growing our states of being.Some fundamental benefits are:
- Becoming skilled in recognising opportunities to have influence over.
- Improving the actions taken to have greater and more meaningful results.
- Integrating the results and developing a more authentic identity.
We tend to believe that our emotional capacity is fixed, or formulaic. As if we were swimming a repeated stroke in a pond. The truth is, with our EI abilities there are no walls, no limits of depth, and no telling where we can go, and what we can uncover. It is more an ocean of possibility. We change and expand our perspective through small, repeated action. We use thinking to change our thinking. BEI tells us this is through ‘Cognitive Reframing.’ In this, we are skillfully making use of how the brain works, by using our brain to actually affect itself! When we reframe our interpretation of what is happening to us in life, to quote Michele Nevarez, CEO of BEI: ‘We also help the prediction process to shift and change.’ Neuroplasticity happening right before our eyes.
Golden Gift
We can navigate the open waters of life. We can locate our potential – our treasure. In my book Ace Egos, one of the twelve Golden Gifts of Life is the Treasure Map. We map our way through Emotional Intelligence by consciously placing positive and productive ‘impressions’ in our thoughts and feelings. The more we create these impressions, the more we have an easy-to-follow map.
I place impressions into my work activities. First, I create conditions that increase my perceived worth of an activity. I play music that regulates the mood, manage a good room temperature, make sure there is ventilation, and even use a room spray, for a nice scent. I focus on supportive posture and breathing. Spending a brief moment looking out a window and smiling. Having a pause. Sinking into the activity, it is an act of nourishment for the soul. A single task in life becomes meaningful and pleasurable. Second, this is embedded into the body. Registered into memory. Rewiring the work-emotion relationship. How is this done? You align a ‘completed task’ with a joyous, liberating emotion; to feel it in your body. And if you can’t feel it – then you make it up! As if you were feeling it in your body. Then, let both the task and emotion go. Feeling the release of moving on. And then resting for at least 20 seconds. Resting in the spaciousness of ‘nothing to do.’ In this moment, reminding yourself everything is complete, as it is. Settling deep into the body. Reset. Then, alive and refreshed, dive back in for more!
This is how we can improve our EI in the work world. Grounding in awareness. Exploring the ‘Four Gateways.’ Consciously embodying enjoyment in activities. Through this, a Treasure Map starts to be imprinted in our minds and our behaviours. Our own lives of immaculate immensity. When we see potential as always available, and extracting the richness from it. This is the true treasure of being in the moment, doing in the moment. It is these ongoing moments of doing, and re-doing, that opens our hearts and sharpens our minds. Serving ourselves and serving the world. Creating the joy of the path. And enjoying the path in getting there.
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