“Everyone wants a better life: very few of us want to be better people.”
– Alain de Botton
Author: Beatrice (Page 2 of 7)
“The emotionally intelligent person knows that they will only ever be mentally healthy in a few areas and at certain moments, but is committed to fathoming their inadequacies and warning others of them in good time, with apology and charm.”
– Alain de Botton
The more we are open to changing and adapting to live in a multitude of contests, the more emotionally mature we are. But that doesn’t come easy. Not even close.
Emotional intelligence seems to be all the hype today, one of the most saught-after soft skills by employers. Emotional intelligence though is something we should all pursue not to sound cool at our next job interview, but to travel the obstacle-ridden path that is called life.
The good news? It can be learned.
Even more good news? Alain de Botton has published “The School of Life: An Emotional Education” to teach you how.
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“The pleasure we derive from journeys is perhaps dependent more on the mindset with which we travel than on the destination we travel to.”
– Alain De Botton
When needing to make a choice, we are often conditioned by our fears more than our goals. Often we know where we want to go, but we are stuck. We’re just too afraid. Of what might happen. Of what others might think of us. Of whether we’re making a responsible choice or not. If we’re going to regret our decision.
“Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life”
– Jerzy Gregorek
Tim Ferriss suggests we should change our approach to taking action and overcoming paralysis. In an exercise he calls “fear-setting” he asks us to envision and write down our fears in detail.
Hear all about it in his TED Talk.
“A good half of the art of living is resilience.”
– Alain de Botton
Smartphones are great. They connect us to the world, they allow us to find any information at any time, in any place, they help us find the best services available around us and they can also be a creative outlet.
Smartphones are also overwhelming. They have brought us to fill every single moment of our life. Whether we’re scrolling the screen or listening through our earphones, there is always a flow of information streaming through our brains. This has terrible consequences on our physical and mental health. We’re more prone to burnout, to excessive levels of stress and to overwhelm. Our brains don’t have any more time to process what we’re feeding them. They don’t have time to elaborate, create and simply be.
The author of this article suggests an easy (and trendy) way to put your smartphone away: buy a fanny pack!
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“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”
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Merry Christmas to all our followers. May it be jolly, bright and full of light!
“Each of us needs what nature gives us, when nature gives it.”
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Who am I?
This existential question that we have probably all asked ourselves at least once in our lives is part of the process of building our personality. Not only. It is part of building our personal brand.
Just like companies sell products and services, we in some way sell ourselves. We sell our skills, our values, our purpose when we engage in new relationships, both private and professional. Which means that we must know what we are bringing to the plate and what we expect from others.
Building a brand takes time, vision and most of all clarity. It requires profound introspection to identify what are our unique features and skills, as well as acceptance of what we see in ourselves.
The brand not only has to be built, it also has to be presented; which, in the case of personal branding, means we have to learn how to introduce ourselves to potential employers (or partners!) showcasing our strengths, but also acknowledging our weaknesses; in general, when it comes to presentations, honesty and authenticity are often the winning solutions.
You can read more about how to best showcase your personal brand during job interviews in this Forbes article!
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