Descartes Had It All Wrong!

Despite an intellectual history that tells us “I think, therefore I am,” contemporary neuroscience reveals that we’re emotional beings first, thinking beings second, describes Brené Brown, social worker and bestselling author, and a recent interview with Tech Insider. Down to slugs, caterpillars, and the most basic of invertebrates, animals emotionally respond as a way of navigating their environments, and humans are no exception. The thinking comes after.

Understanding and navigating emotions is the the key to resilience, argues Brown in her book, Rising Strong.

Emotions are a rich source of information about how we are doing with what’s going on, especially when it comes to the gaps between what we want and what we are getting.

Most of what we think about involves solving problems. And most of those problems are actually emotional problems, whether we recognize it or not.

I want my latte in my hands before 7:50 AM so I can get to work on time, and the line is long at Starbucks.

I want to feel rested tomorrow, and I also want to stay up tonight to watch three episodes of my favorite show on Netflix.

I want to be recognized for my hard work on a project and my client criticizes it. I want to feel settled about a decision and my gut clenches whenever I think of it.

I want to feel confident that my sales team will positively represent our brand in front of customers and they question each other’s integrity.

I want to feel safe in my house and I am afraid because two families in my neighborhood have been victims of recent break-ins.

Before I ever “think” about how to solve these disconnects, I have an emotional response. In fact, it’s the emotional response that motivates me to think about it, and maybe even do something about it.

We’ve developed a model that teaches people how to negotiate the balance between emotions, thoughts, and actions (we refer to these as Openness, Resourcefulness, and Persistence, respectively). It’s called the Compassion Cycle, and it’s the “engine” that drives our Leading Out of Drama system.

The number one rule of the Compassion Cycle: Enter at Open. Brené, it looks like we’re on the same page with you!

Want to build your emotional intelligence and drama resilience? Give us a call and stay tuned for information about my new book.

Oh no…did I just let the cat out of the bag? I feel excited! I better go think about what to do next.

Copyright 2016, Next Element Consulting, LLC,  All rights reserved

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