Unleashing the Power of Emotional Intelligence

Dr. Ruby Bakshi Khurdi

Educator · Speaker · Founder of RBK Academy Swiss

15 April 2020 · 3 min read

R. Bakshi, Khurdi

I was rushing for a very prestigious public speaking event, holding my papers, Ipad as well as my business suit which I was supposed to wear during my speech. “Practicing Emotional Intelligence” – this was the topic for my talk where I was invited as a Keynote Speaker. My son came running after me, “Maa when are you going to watch JO-JO with me? What time are you coming back? Can I call my friends for playing Xbox?” I was like “can you please calm down, don’t you realize that I am going for an event, I am stressed as I have lots happening in my mind. We will discuss this once I am back.” He was a bit disappointed, with teary eyes he said – “Maa when will you have time for me? You and papa are always busy, when we ask you to play with us, we hear these words constantly – stress, tension, busy, this is not the right moment, running late for a meeting, etc.”

It stuck me instantly, I was shaken up…I have been conducting workshops on Emotional Intelligence (EI) across the globe, counselling friends and colleagues how they can practice it but was I doing it myself? Was I maintaining my balance to be a cool mum as well as have a successful career? The answer was No! My 12y old just gave me an instant crash course to reality… I think most of you will identify with my situation, we all want to give the best to our children, buy them the latest gadgets, fashionable clothes, travel to exotic locations, etc. but we tend to forget connecting emotionally. Our children don’t need only these materialistic things, they need us to be more tolerant, they need our love and time. So what exactly is EI?

“Emotional Intelligence as the ability to :

Recognize, understand and manage your own emotions.

Recognize, understand and influence the emotions of others.”

Today we live in a digital era, dominated by virtual reality, smart appliances and artificial intelligence; sustaining balance in this fast paced life is becoming complex for a harmonious existence. As we are heavily relying on these gadgets, our personal as well as professional life stands to suffer the consequences in the long run. But who is the master- mind? Who made these smart gadgets? It’s us who created it – its us who have the master –key! We need to strike a good balance between reality and virtual reality, we need to connect using our Emotional intelligence.

“Emotions drive People, People drive Performance”

We need rules & regulations to live peacefully in society . It is nearly impossible to imagine a society that we could intelligibly consider human that existed without norms. Norms in turn create in people mutual expectations for each other that vary in strength and importance. Indeed, we are probably the only creatures on Earth that consciously have normative expectations of each other and that make evaluative judgments when those expectations are satisfied or breached.

We all haveSocial Responsibility towards our family, friends, neighbors and society in general. But the question is - how many of us actually fulfil it? We need to practice truth, good conduct, honesty, be humble and not be judgmental towards actions of others.

Therefore, for a peaceful world it is essential to develop and transform diverse cultures through common values that are shared by people internationally. We should try to practice emotional intelligence to establish connections as it can always be modified and refined. In this fast paced era of digitalization, we all need to make a conscious effort to be self-aware, tolerant, manage ourselves, empathize with people and invest time for sustaining relationships. People who understand EI make better choices in life, have good inter-personal relationships and are more successful both personally & professionally.

References:

https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/198198/10/08_chapter%202_section%203.pdf https://science-and-spiritual-quest.org/abstracts/3-november-2018/free-will-responsibility-and-human-values/

https://www.holy-bhagavad-gita.org/chapter/18/verse/63

https://positivepsychology.com/importance-of-emotional-intelligence/

https://universaltheosophy.com/key-concepts/karma/

https://www.6seconds.org/2017/10/02/optimizing-emotions-performance/

https://www.ihhp.com/meaning-of-emotional-intelligence

https://www.gaia.com/article/spirituality-101-how-become-more-spiritual-your-daily-life

https://tricycle.org/magazine/cause-and-effect/

https://www.iep.utm.edu/santideva/

https://psychcentral.com/blog/how-the-4-traits-of-emotional-intelligence-affect-your-life

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