I was listening to some leadership insights, and this quote really resonated with me:
“Emotional courage is the willingness to feel everything, and if you’re willing to feel everything, you can do anything”
– Peter Bregman, CEO and Bestselling Author.
I love this perspective! This explains why we often struggle to have difficult conversations. It’s most likely not because we lack the skills to communicate what we want to say.
Rather, it’s more likely to be because we know that saying what we want to say may challenge us. That it could potentially make us feel things that we don’t want to feel. If addressing something seems as though it will result in discomfort, we often push it away. We try to avoid it.
Overcoming this means learning how to be present with yourself in sitting through negative emotions and situations, building strong self-awareness, and being able to manage your emotions while communicating effectively. Did you know that being self-aware and having higher emotional intelligence is linked to a greater sense of happiness overall?
Why?
Because in building these skills you gain self-confidence, become a better communicator, are able to better understand and relate to others, gain more empathy and compassion for others, etc. These skills can be applied to all aspects of your life, with all interpersonal relationships.
Making an effort to hone those skills has the potential to improve all of your relationships both in and outside the workplace. It will help you become a better version of yourself, enabling you to show up as your best for those in your life. Who wouldn’t want that?!
Do you lead and move through life with emotional courage? Let me know in the comments!
With love,
Jessica
Finding Light in the Darkness 