WEBVTT

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his thoughts if it were you by Neogentrics. Food

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for thought. Well, last time we covered emotional

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intelligence, and we even covered the social

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skills required. So we're going to talk about

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one of those social skills today. Enjoy the jazzy

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music in the background as well. We're going

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to cover self -awareness. Self -awareness is

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one of the key components of emotional intelligence.

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Daniel Goleman, the guru of emotional intelligence,

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identified self -awareness as being made up of

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emotional awareness, accurate self -assessment,

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and self -confidence. In other words, it's all

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about knowing your emotions and your personal

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strengths and weaknesses and having a strong

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sense of worth. People who lack awareness find

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living a truly happy and productive life very

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difficult. This can be difficult to overcome,

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as many societies and cultures encourage us to

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ignore our feelings and emotions. You know, keep

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calm and carry on. Examples of this include people

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who stay in jobs that they find unfulfilling

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or make them unhappy, or in relationships in

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which they are not comfortable at all. The emotional

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awareness. It's the ability to recognize your

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own emotions and their effects. People who have

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this ability know what emotions they are feeling

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at any given time and why. They understand the

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links between their emotions and their thoughts,

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actions, and including what they say. They understand

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how their feelings will therefore affect their

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performance and be guided in how they feel by

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their personal values. Be aware of your own emotions

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and how they affect your behavior. It is crucial

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to effective interaction with others. can also

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be crucial to your personal health and well -being.

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Keep that in mind as well. Living without emotional

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awareness can be kind of difficult. Some people

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find ways to mask their emotions rather than

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listening to them. Addiction to certain behaviors

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is often linked to emotional masking. These include

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excessive drinking and or eating, overworking,

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computer games, gambling, exercises, or any other

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activities that effectively distract the mind

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from... what's actually happening. elevator music,

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but who can argue with their jazz music? Anyway,

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people can find self -analysis of their emotions

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difficult, especially if they have suppressed

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them for a long time. It may be hard for people

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to accurately recognize their emotions and even

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more difficult to understand why they're feeling.

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However, self -analysis is a vital skill to learn

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and develop for good emotional intelligence.

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A good starting point is to be aware of your

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values, which can also be thought of as your

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personal moral compass. For more about that,

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check out the podcast I did on your moral compass.

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These values have an emotional value to them,

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which therefore means that many emotional responses

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come from some action or event that touches on

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those values. If you're aware of your values,

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You can quickly see why you may have had a particularly

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emotional reaction to an event or person. Most

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importantly, you can then take action to address

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the issue with a better understanding of the

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problem. An accurate self -assessment is usually

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required. Understanding your own and others'

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emotions also requires a good understanding of

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your personal strengths, weaknesses, inner resources,

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and perhaps most importantly, your limits. It

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can be particularly hard to admit to weaknesses

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and limits, especially if you are in a competitive

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and fast -moving work environment. But it is

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crucial for emotional intelligence and your own

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well -being. People who are good at self -assessment

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generally not only have a good understanding

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of their strengths and weaknesses, but they show

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a good sense of humor about themselves and their

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limitations. They are usually very reflective

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and learn from experience, and also open to feedback.

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But be warned, there are blind spots. Alright,

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let's cover those blind spots. It can be very

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hard to admit to weaknesses, and many people

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may well be in the state of doubt that they even

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have any. especially for those in senior positions.

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It can also be hard to get genuine and constructive

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feedback. This is a result in blind spots, problem

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areas which are completely invisible to the person

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concerned. Common blind spots identified in a

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study of senior executives include the following.

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Setting unrealistic goals for oneself or the

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organization and having an unrealistic idea of

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how easily tasks can be accomplished. Blind ambition.

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where the person has to be right all the time,

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and relentless hard work, working long hours

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and being at risk of burnout as well as a result.

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These blind spots can make people very resistant

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to feedback, which makes it even harder to overcome

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the problem. The solution? Get into a habit of

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seeking regular, honest feedback from those around

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you, and then act on it. This is very prominent,

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especially in young males. who play sports or

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young women in general. As everyone always wants

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to be right and they never want to have that

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feeling that they're wrong. But sometimes that's

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what you need. Next, work on your self -confidence.

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The final area of self -awareness is self -confidence.

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Having a strong sense of your own self -worth

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and not relying on others for your evaluation

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of yourself. People with good self -confidence

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are generally able to present themselves well

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and are often described as charismatic, as I

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mentioned before. Preparing to voice unpopular

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opinions and not always go with the flow. You

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know. And then they're generally decisive, being

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able to make good decisions grounded in their

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own values. Self -confidence is absolutely vital

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for job performance. Without the ability to tell

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tell it like it is, when necessary, and stand

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up for unpopular positions, it is very hard to

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achieve anything, especially during tough times.

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Which is one of the main reasons why I enjoy

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doing my podcast. In conclusion, with what I

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was talking about earlier, self -awareness is

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a crucial part of emotional intelligence. It's

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no accident that Daniel Goleman, the author of

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the book Emotional Intelligence, identified it

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as the first of the five competencies that make

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up the emotional intelligence. But without awareness

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and understanding of ourselves and a sense of

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self -rooted in our own values, it is very, very

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hard. And it's not possible to even be aware

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of or respond to the emotions of other people.

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Just keep that in mind. And again, thank you

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for listening. Enjoy the rest of your day. Neogentrics

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out.