LIVING LIGHTS ON!

 

RAISE YOUR EQ (EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE)

The quickest way to raise your EQ is to acknowledge that you are already well on your way, and possess a well developed multitude of EQ/right brained qualities.

Simply, those qualities have been overshadowed by the cultural tendency to focus on IQ/left brained qualities. Our educational system has mostly utilized an IQ dominant curriculum with proficiency testing as a method of preparing you for success in knowledge based economy.

Daniel Goleman in his ground breaking book, Emotional Intelligence, stated that “IQ contributes only about 20% to the factors that determine successful performance. Emotional intelligence (EQ) is a meta-ability, determining how well we use whatever skills we have, including raw intellect (IQ).”

That was 12 years ago, in 1995, and it is widely acknowledged that it is timely and important to look to a whole brained approach which produces a balanced perspective.

Start with acknowledging that:

You have a unique ability to visualize your ideas in complete & complex detail.

You generate a huge quantity of creative ideas and can feel scattered until you decide which ones to put into action.

You are able to intuitively see and sense which direction to take, you trust your intuitive hunches, and act on them when you “just know” the time is right.

Review the differences between IQ and EQ below:

Right hemisphere (EQ) Visual/spatial Nonlinear Dreaming/what Diffuse thinking/chaos Excels at intuition Reasons simultaneously Sees patterns/relationships Sees pictures simultaneously

Left hemisphere (IQ) Verbal Linear Planning/how-to Focal thinking/order Excels at analysis Reasons sequentially Sees sequence of concepts Sees words in orderly progression

Begin by following these steps:

Look at the big picture – the “what” vision before moving to the “how–to” strategies.

Draw or collage a visual representation of that big picture (a vision map).

Place that visual where you can easily and often see it.

Observe the vision map for at least a week, and then strategize.

Understand that the process of taking a vision (dream or thought) into action involves a whole brain way of thinking. It requires a balance between right brain conceptualizing (chaos) and left brain sequencing (order). This merging of the two dominant thought patterns connects to reality, and manifests in a sustainable outcome/result.

An EQ Quiz

Answering yes to 10 or more is an indication that your EQ is developed.

Do you:

Listen to music while you work?
Collect images when you are starting a new project?
Enjoy seeing the big picture using collages or vision boards?
Enjoy designing products/services/experiences that are engaging rather than merely functional?

Enjoy reading fiction and/or fantasy?
Think in metaphors and use them in your speaking and writing?
Show more interest in stories rather than information and data?
Enjoy improvisation and making it up as you go?

Create unique, artistic items by reusing common objects?
Combine seemingly separate pieces into an innovative new whole?
Explore personal development (what makes people tick)?
Ask questions about purpose and spiritual fulfillment?

Learn by putting yourself in someone else’s position, and seeing their prospective?
Practice moving meditations like labyrinths, tai chi, or yoga?
Create celebrations and/or gifts as acknowledgements to others?
Acknowledge learning from your successes (what worked) as equally valuable to learning from your mistakes (what didn’t work?

Incorporate humor and humorous ideas into your daily life?
For example, this quote from Sid Caesar: “The guy who invented the wheel was an idiot. The guy who invented the other three, he was a genius.”

Have fun with this quiz and your new focused interest in your right brain!

Live every day with your lights on!
Cathy Hawk & Gary Hawk

For more information, check out our website, or call us at 877-335-9333

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