Search Inside Yourself
Chapter One - Emotional Intelligence
I have just finished reading the first chapter of the book 'Search Inside Yourself' by Chade Meng-Tan (aka Meng). Meng works at Google and believes with the right training, anybody can become more emotionally intelligent, which in turn, can enable the following three skill sets:
- Stellar Work Performance
- Outstanding Leadership
- The Ability to Create the Conditions for Happiness
The aim of developing emotional intelligence is to help to optimise yourself to function at an even higher level than you are already capable of. The first part of training emotional intelligence is training your attention to be strong, stable and perceptive, so it can afford you calmness and clarity. Here Meng quotes Viktor Frankl, "Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and happiness." Having a mind of calmness and clarity enables you to increase the duration of the space between stimulus and response.
To train the quality of your attention you begin with 'mindfulness meditation', defined by Jon Kabat-Zinn as "paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgementally". Each day you need to spend 2 minutes just sitting, and being aware that you are breathing, and paying attention to the process of breathing. Every time your attention wanders, bring it back slowly and gently. This simple excercise, if practiced often enough, deepens the inherent calmness and clarity in the mind. It opens the possibility of fully appreciating each moment in life, every one of which is precious.
I have tried mindfulness medidation three times so far and throughly enjoy emptying my mind, even if it is just for a couple of minutes. It is a great way to spend some time away from the hustle, bustle and stresses of everyday life, and even if nothing greater comes from it, it gives me a wonderful sense of relief. I will be continuing to practice this at least once per day and will report back in future blogs with any further developemnts.
DISCLAIMER: Thanks for continuing to read my blogs. Because I am new to the Emotional Intelligence scene (and not much of a writer anyway), most of the content above has been lifted directly from the book itself. I think this is the most effective, efficient and accurate way for me to share an insight of what the book has to offer.
Cheers,
