At the end of each year, we all look back at what we have achieved in the last 12 months. We contemplate whether we have managed to meet the set goals or whether there are still some to be achieved. The end of the year is also the time when we promise ourselves that the upcoming will be not just another new year on the calendar, but also a new beginning for ourselves. We will switch to new turns, we will implement new ideas and we will dare to do everything we have been afraid of so far, but deep down we long.
In this line of thought, what will open new worlds and set the stage for our future transformation is getting to know ourselves. The absorption of such power acts as an inspiring ray that encourages us to improve, as well as a catalyst for all those toxic habits that plunge us into the depths of failure. To enter the depths of self-knowledge, we must first be able to distinguish our feelings and emotions and accept them when they surface.
Here we continue with our new topic of emotional intelligence, by monitoring and analyzing the research of the journalist, psychologist, and writer – Daniel Goleman. With his brilliant mind and enviable knowledge of psychology, he illustrates the difference between being aware of your feelings and letting them guide you. In his book Emotional Intelligence, Goleman breaks down stereotypes about innate intelligence by providing scientific evidence that argues that intelligence is influenced by experience and can therefore be changed. His work is dedicated to the brain – its functioning and how it relates to our thoughts, feelings, fantasies, and dreams. Goleman sets a new era in the science of the irrational and gives a new look to emotional intelligence and its impact on human life.
The subject of self-knowledge is main focus to the very father of psychoanalysis – Sigmund Freud, which he calls “evenly distributed attention.”
No matter what we call it, the significant thing here is to be able to understand and put it into practice, to preserve ourselves and our physical and mental health. It is no coincidence that Goleman himself devotes an entire chapter to this topic and quite skillfully immerses us in the matter while explaining it in easily understandable language.
To succumb to one emotion, to accept its feeling, or to try to replace it with another? These are just some of the topics he addresses in this chapter of his book, clarifying them and giving us a new perspective on things that often happen to us but we have not paid much attention to.
Knowing everything we describe here is only the first step towards self-knowledge and self-development. Assimilation and understanding of each new matter require consistency, perseverance, and last but not least – a desire to improve. Here the situation is the same.
Our daily lives are largely filled with a lot of dynamism, stress, and tension, as we have emphasized many times, which in turn is a real challenge for balancing our feelings and their awareness. It allows us to continually experience different situations that we can turn to our advantage using the methods described in Goleman’s book.
In a world of rapid and drastic change, we are forced to adapt our emotions so that they are in sync with the intensity of sudden changes in our environment, while maintaining our rational thinking. In this way, we are committed to improving our quality of life, building successful relationships, increasing our chances of success at work, and, as Goleman himself aims, helping his children do better in life.
At the end of the year, we set a single goal that will open new doors to success and upgrade our qualities and skills – to get to know ourselves.
