Emotional Intelligence begins within. And ripples out into your relationships.

The tripod. The legs of emotional self-awareness, accurate self-assessment and self-confidence are the key supports upon which your impact on your personal and business landscape begins.

Why? And what difference does this make to me?

If you are not aware of your very personal and private scope of beliefs and emotions then you will face a continual struggle to see a big picture in a complex relationship or situation. This struggle plays out in a number of ways.

• You find it a challenge to maintain a positive outlook and world view.
• You find that it’s difficult to speak openly about high-stakes matters without letting your emotions and actions get out of control.
• You are not clear on what makes you happy. And your authenticity may be questioned.

You have good days and not so good days. And the range of highs and lows can and often are like the top and bottom of a yo-yo string. Why? Could it be that you don’t take the time to focus inward and take a really good look at who you are, not who you think you should be?

Not it’s not easy in the beginning. Because we can get “stuck”. We are, by nature, creatures of habit. So if you decided at some point in your past that what another person or people told shaped how you saw yourself then that’s how you become. And, sure, you say “I’ve changed.”

And most of us do to an extent. Ask yourself “am I taking time to be sure what the inside looks like so that I can get to my centered self and then choose to grow, in small and sustainable steps to become the person I aspire to be – grateful, self-governed and driven by the choices and actions that make me happy. Let’s continue this in a minute on the positive side.

The best thing you will see written here is that we have moved far beyond the days of the DISC assessment in helping each of us rediscover who we are as a basis for charting our own unique course along the path of our journey. Self-assessment is not a destination. It is merely a place to push the “pause” button and use a more advanced tool to get to an “ah ha” moment.

If you choose, you can accelerate your self-assessment by investing two of your personal assets – you are certainly worth $ 19.95 and 30 minutes of your time to become more aware and grounded in your strengths.

• Invest $ 19.95 in the book “Strengths Finder 2.0” and then open it to a different colored page towards the back. You’ll find your personal code for logging into the web site = http://strengths.gallup.com/default.aspx
• Take the assessment and be honest with your responses.
• Download, save and read both the long and short form of the five (5) strengths you have found for yourself and the guide suggesting how you can put these new-found strengths into action. This will rock your world, help you become more graceful in learning, and constructive in your interactions with others even in challenging situations. Cool, huh?

Let’s wrap up this session on your emotional intelligence with a few comments on self-perception and new outcomes.

With a clearer and more accurate picture of who you are based upon recognizing your strengths and the greater self-awareness they bring, visualize how that guides your behavior to a more positive direction for your life – in and out of the business ecosystem.

• You become self-confident.
• You welcome and address difficult assignments.
• You have a sense of presence and self-assurance that lets you stand out.

This process of gaining more emotional intelligence in your core self truly answers the question we posed above “why is this important to me?” Or you can just go on staring down at your “smart” device. You choose.

And come back for the rest of the series. You are worth it!