In Part 1 of this series, “Energy is your winning differentiator”, we explored some questions on our energy and some of its basic aspects.
There are critical points relevant for the recharging which can never be emphasized or repeated enough. It is highly recommended that you read Part 1 to get a better familiarity with the overarching Battery system and our basic tenets around it.
How many EMPS is your battery charged?
Through EMPS, we speak of 4 batteries and their corresponding energies, our overall energy, and our cognitive abilities being a function of these 4 energies.
We also asked you:
Which of these is blinking and telling you that it needs an urgent recharge? And what are you waiting for?
Our recharge starts by acknowledging the reality of where we are and then looking at the recharge process through 2 basic aspects of each of these batteries. Having looked at Physical Energy, let’s move to the next one, Emotional Energy.
Emotions are our most active charge. And yet, we seldom stop to address them directly. In spite of everyone claiming to understand the importance of emotions, especially in the workplace and in leadership, no one stops to cultivate ways to properly audit, dissolve, or overhaul the charge. Without a doubt, we take better care of our cars, computers, and other appliances than our emotions.
In fact, we seldom even know how to go about it. This energy, if ever, is addressed through the other three energies. Everyone has an opinion on emotions, but rarely a lived-through technique or practice. Emotional intelligence mostly translates as denial, control, manipulation of inner experiences but never into any meaningful engagement, directly with emotions.
Let’s change that now through two basic aspects of emotional energy: Emotions and Relationships.
Emotions
Ignore your emotions till a meltdown strikes unannounced. Control your emotions. Bottle them inside as you grin and bear. Wait for them to burst out at the wrong person at the wrong time in a disproportionate manner. Or till they cripple you. Top it up nicely with chasing every possible ‘should-must-have to’.
Yeah right! That will surely charge your emotional battery. Smirk and roll your eyes with me!! (LinkedIn – we need eye-rolling emoji on the double!)
OR become authentic, real, genuine about your emotions and feelings. At least with yourself and with people you trust. You can make a list of what behaviors, words, expressions, or tones trigger emotions in you. And trigger emotions recurrently. Which roughly translates as many times or at least once in a day!! Keep the list handy and keep adding.
You will find that within a short duration, these triggers will start depleting. Among other things, it is a profound exercise in empathy with oneself.
Empathy is powerful.
Empathy with oneself is powerful
beyond measure.
Or ask yourself these two simple questions, at the earliest possible time that you can catch yourself generating negative emotional charge :
What body sensations are these emotions generating?
What am I thinking, will be the impact of this situation?
Awareness of body sensations in conjunction with emotions is a breakthrough in the domain of emotional freedom. It can be your doorway to a realm of emotional freedom and energy which you may have never experienced.
You can keep breathing if you want as you work with these two questions. As deeply and as nicely as you can.
(But that is completely optional since many people prefer to hold their breath as much as possible in an emotionally triggered state. After all, who are we to stop you from holding your breath!! )
OR gift yourself something completely unreasonable. Instead of another online course or webinar, indulge in something that gives you pure joy, something that you’ve been postponing or have missed doing for a long time. Right now during the lockdown, at least some version of it, if not full. Order online something that you crave for, almost like a child, even if the delivery happens later.
Nothing generates positive emotions the way an irrational delight does.
And you have a divine right to your irrational delights if they are harmless to yourself and others.
OR use your Emogination, spend time in EmoGym, or with an EmoGenie! (coming soon).
Incidentally, rolling your eyes while you are tuned in to a strong negative emotional charge or disturbing thought/memory, IS a powerful technique to get quick relief. Try it. (Linkedin, emoji!!)
Relationships
Simply express yourself to the right person, about what you have been holding back. Sometimes it is just a matter of not finding the courage to do it. At other times, it is a matter of feeling tactless. But difficult people or difficult situations, there is always a way to do it. Aren’t so many other people doing it? So, find a way!
OR Write a letter or a mail, and say the much overdue sorry/thank you/to hell with you! Well, you can always make a call whether to send it or not.
OR check, which relationships in your life energize you. Spend more time in nurturing them. For a start, simply acknowledge those relationships and those people for yourself. Then you may do something nice and thoughtful for them, while their delivery of what you ordered may take some time. (You will order something for them too, right?)
OR check which relationships drain you of energy. Transform it by having a tough conversation. (find a way and prepare!!) Or let go of that relationship.
or open your mailbox, and be flooded with emails telling you how of all the nasty things you’ve done, and how the senders didn’t want to bring them up till they also read this article! (You are welcome again!! ) Start from the top again using the techniques on emotions triggered by these mails!!!
You must be hearing from multiple respectable sources how these will be critical factors for leaders and organizations to navigate the tough times now and ahead. These phenomena of empathy and resilience can often seem inaccessible and vague.
When you have an expanded awareness around emotions and the ability to navigate through them, it also helps you to generate empathy and resilience. The deceptively simple practices shared here give you direct and definite access to them. They give you access to advantage resilience.
Emotional Energy is a vast domain. The overarching paradigm of 4 energies has been shared with you along with the primers. We encourage you to take on some of these as we keep sharing more ahead.
Instead of having an opinion whether these would work or not , try them sufficiently.
Go full out with the ones which call you, or take others as experiments and test if they work.
Share your experiences with us as they start accruing.
You must never feel any hesitation or resistance in seeking serious professional help if you feel even the slightest need. Do feel free to reach out to any of us from KoeN. We are committed to supporting you ourselves or through our strong network of related professionals. You are not alone.
Others in the series: the Physical, the Mental, and the Spiritual Batteries.
