Navigating Emotions - Repurposing Emotional Energy For Optimal Outcomes

I am currently running an EQ survey to gain insight into the emotional environment people are experiencing. In that survey, here is one of the questions, and the responses to date:

When you are experiencing strong emotions, what do you struggle with?

Notice that the largest response was being productive. How important is that? Do you feel the same way when you are trying to manage strong emotions? Next highest measure is communicating well. The next is relating to others well. These are basic skills and important to our lives and our work. Why is it that strong emotions create a struggle for us in important areas of our lives?

[Please feel free to take the survey for yourself. Your input is confidential and your participation would be greatly appreciated: Take EQ survey]

Navigating emotions is a key skill set of EQ (emotional intelligence). It is the skill that gives us the agility and resilience to navigate the emotional environment in ourselves and the emotions of other people.

What to look for

Navigating emotions is NOT:

• Hiding our emotions
• Suppressing our emotions
• Wearing our emotions so everyone can see them all the time
• Dumping our emotions on other people

Navigating emotions IS:

• Taking the time to respond instead of react
• Being more intentional with choices
• Repurposing the energy and information coming from emotions for more strategic outcomes

Of the 8 EQ competencies in this emotional intelligence model (Six Seconds), navigating emotions is one of the most important to develop. While all 8 are critical skills, navigating emotions allows us to be more intentional and get better outcomes when we practice it.

Our brains work in a very specific way. We experience something that generates a thought. Our brain immediately attaches meaning to that thought. From thought and meaning, emotions are generated. Those emotional drivers impact our decisions, behavior, and actions. That means that emotions are the bridge between our thoughts and our decisions/actions/behavior. The manner in which we are able to navigate emotions impact many areas of our life:

• Critical thinking
• Decision making
• Problem solving
• Abstract thinking
• Innovation
• Creativity
• Relationship building
• Communication

These are critical elements in our life and our work.

How to

The practical approach to navigating emotions starts with slowing down. I realize that sounds strange, but if we are going to navigate something, we don't do it at top speed. Here is a graphic I found recently that does a good job of expressing this:

Taking that pause gives us the time to be more intentional, practice curiosity instead of judgement, apply consequential thinking (another EQ competency), and then choose the best path forward.

Emotions do two very important things:

1. They send us a message
2. They impact our energy

Have you ever felt an emotion that drained you of energy? I think we all have. Or the opposite, that gave you energy? Sure. They also send us messages. Have you ever walked into a place and immediately felt that you needed to leave? That is your emotions sending an important message.

The EQ competency and skill of navigating emotions puts those messages to good use. It also regulates the impact emotions have on your energy. The more we strengthen this skill, the more able we are to access our higher level thinking, communicating, and relationship skills.

Reflect

When you experience something that generates emotions in you, what do you do first?

If the answer to that is react, then you are probably not navigating emotions. Are you controlling your emotions or are they controlling you? Sometimes it is easier to just react and deal with the consequences later. But is that really the best approach?

Navigating our emotions will take more time and intentionality, but the result will most likely be better. This is an EQ skill that is worth the effort to develop and grow in.

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