Galba Bright’s 7 Laws of Emotional Intelligence: Law #5
March 5th, 2007 by Galba Bright
Law # 5 identifying my choices empowers me to take fresh look at my behaviour.
Look back to move forward
This Law propels you far beyond your old habit of making trigger responses to different stimuli and situations. You now review how you have dealt with different situations in the past. Taking a second look enables you to be more objective about your past experiences.
Empower yourself by learning from the past
There are many situations that you already deal with in a very effective way. Acknowledge them and remind yourself of how you are able to do such things.
Re-affirm your past accomplishmants and remind yourself that your transformation is a work in progress.
Make your peace with your past mistakes and errors. When you are able to accept them you are far better placed to learn from them.
Let’s think about the taxi-driver in Law #1 and Law # 2. He drove repeatedly through the red lights because his girlfriend had left him. We’d be re-assured to know that he’d learnt a more effective way to manage his anger and upset. We’d be disturbed if we ever thought that he’d do that again.
In a radio interview with Jamaican journalist, Andrea Williams-Green, I said:
“most of my strongest learning experiences have come from events that initially looked like failure”
Could such a philiosophy work for you?
As you practice this law consistently, you strengthen your ability to manage yourself.
What next?
Can you think of a lesson that you’ve learned from a past mistake or failure?
If so, what did you do differently as a result of what you learned?
Do you believe that you now have a new bundle of options about how you behave?
If so, what are you going to do with this new knowledge?
Download Galba Bright’s 7 Laws Of Emotional Intelligence in pdf format
Law # 6 is on its way.
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Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Posted in 7 Laws of Emotional Intelligence, Anger Management, Emotional Intelligence 101, Emotional Intelligence, Competencies, Managing Yourself, Blog, Self Awareness |
