EMOTIONAL INTEREST ARTICLES AND POEM
5 Es OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IMPACT
By Dan G. Awe, CEO Hi EQ Acad, Benin City, Nigeria
“One does what one is: one becomes what one does.”
The statement above was made by Robert von Musil. Robert von Musil was an Austrian writer who lived in the 20th century. His statement suggests that the acts of a person define him. This is very true in the field of emotional intelligence (EI) where practice is stressed.
Daniel Goleman, who popularized emotional intelligence, emphasized the fact that anyone can learn EI and with practice can raise his emotional quotient (EQ).
Once you imbibe the principles of EI and begin to practice it, your life will be positively impacted upon.
Five Ways of Emotional Intelligence Impact
There are five ways EI can impact the lives of people, including your life.
The five ways are what we call the 5 Es of Emotional Intelligence. They are: Enlightenment, Excitement, Enablement, Empowerment and Ennoblement
- Enlightenment – Emotional intelligence or EI gives greater knowledge and understanding of self in terms of emotions, feelings, moods and impulses. It also gives to people greater knowledge of self-motivation, empathy and relationship management. EI is the purveyor of social and emotional literacy.
- Excitement – The greater knowledge acquired through EI stirs up in people stronger feelings of interest in matters of, and craving for emotional security and stability. The interest and craving spur people to adopt a more accommodating personalities and positive attitudes towards others and events.
- Enablement – EI ensures that people acquire the appropriate skills for better intra-personal and inter-personal relationships. It also equips people with skills to become emotionally resilient and optimistic about life and living.
- Empowerment – The knowledge and skills of EI confer on people the capacity to lead effectively and make things happen for good of the family, organization and society. The emotionally intelligent people control their emotions as well as those of others in such a way to bring about desired positive outcomes.
- Ennoblement – Show me very dignified, composed and confident people and I will show you emotionally intelligent people. The emotionally intelligent people always rise to the occasion when the times are volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. They are adept at the management of change, conflict and communication.
Concluding Remarks
From the foregoing, it can be surmised that through EI you become:
- more authentic;
- more sanguine;
- more humane; and
- more productive.
In the end you will be healthier and more successful. That’s pretty loaded for an impact. Stressing the impact of EI on human lives, an anonymous author, made this emphatic statement:
“Emotional competence is the single most important personal quality that each of us must develop and access to experience a breakthrough. Only through managing our emotions can we access our intellect and our technical competence. An emotionally competent person performs better under pressure.”
Last Word:
Pause and ponder the following questions: how emotionally intelligent are you? How high is your emotional quotient (or EQ)?
Assuming your EQ is high, an addition to your knowledge and skills of emotional intelligence (EI) will definitely make you a much better human. And if you have a little or no knowledge and skills of EI, you should quickly commence the process of acquiring them. Either way, we urge you to subscribe to our unique one-month online EI course and notch up your EQ to a very high level.
Come on, log onto our website, https://www.hieqacad.com. Click or tap our enroll button there and become our esteemed learner today. One more thing: subscribe to our YouTube channel, @hieqacad for free and pick up valuable emotional intelligence tips.
FIVE INTERESTING THINGS MUSIC CAN DO TO YOUR EMOTIONS AND MOODS
By Dan G. Awe, CEO Hi EQ Acad, Benin City, Nigeria
“Music touches emotionally where words alone can’t.”-Jonny Depp
You probably have listened to the following catchy songs: “Enjoy” by Techno, a Nigerian musical artiste and “Wannabe” by Spice Girls, a British all female pop group.
When you listened, you enjoyed the two pieces of music, didn’t you? You would wish they are played again because of how they made you feel, wouldn’t you? Before you become very nostalgic, we will like to make some salient points about music and your emotions and moods.
William Shakespeare, the greatest English playwright and poet was swayed by music too.
Accordingly, he said, “If music be the food of love, play on.” His statement made an implicit reference to the fact that there is a relationship between music and the positive emotion of love. Aside from having a relationship with love, music has relationships with other positive emotions such as excitement, happiness, contentment and relaxation.
Music can do several things to your emotions and moods. The following are five interesting ones:
- Altering moods and perception – Music can change a person’s mood for good. If you are sad or depressed, listening to catchy, fun songs such as “Vibrations” by Fireboy, a Nigerian Afro-pop artiste and “All Night Long” by Lionel Riche, an American singer and song writer can make you happy. Why? Research has shown what when people listen to or anticipate listening to upbeat, lively songs, their brains release the happy-chemical or hormone called dopamine, causing them to be excited. Similarly, consistently and/or intentionally listening to music changes the way you view people, organizations or the whole world at large. All goes to show the magic of music.
- Fostering cordial interpersonal relationships – Bob Marley’s Reggae songs were mainly rendered in Patois and Fela Anikulapo-kuti’s Afro-beat songs were mainly done in Pidgin (Patois and pidgin are languages spoken by West Indians and West Africans respectively). Yet, wherever Bob Marley’s and Fela Anikulapo-kuti’s music are played, millions of different people world over at pubs, parties, concerts and festivals lighten up, smile and swing their heads. A good fraction often struck up conversation and danced with one another because of the music’s good rhythms. The relationships fostered at such fora can last a life time. No wonder, Sarah Dessen, the American novelist said empathically, “Music is the great unifier. An incredible force. Something that people who differ on everything and anything else can have in common.”
- Evoking nostalgia and postalgia – Music can throw a person back to his or her past. Hearing certain songs of yesteryears often evokes happy or sad memories, especially if they are associated with an unforgettable event in your life. Furthermore, your favorite songs are dear to your heart because of their singers’ looks; their lyrics;
their rhythms and most importantly, their links to your past experience. In some instances, music stirs up a feeling or longing for a better future; inspires you to do great things; or boost your imagination and creativity. Anthems and classical music of Beethoven, Mozart and Bach do these ingeniously when you listen to them. From his profound knowledge of classical music and its impact on his audience, Beethoven asserted that “Music is higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.” Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher said also that “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” - Acting as therapy for some serious psychological and medical conditions – Music is therapeutic, implying that it can serve as a treatment regime for ailments. Lively, fun music can, when listened to consistently, impact positively on your grievous emotional conditions such as morbid fear, anxiety, sadness and depression. The continuous release of dopamine, the happy-chemical into the body trigged by music lifts the spirit of the depressed who suffer from anxiety attacks and bouts of sadness. It is heartening to know that music has successful been used to treat people with grave neurological disorders such as Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases. Specifically, some doctors in the USA, while treating the Alzheimer patients in their care consistently encouraged them to listen to music, which eventually improved their memories.
- Improving self-esteem and quality of life – When music makes you happy; lifts your moods; heals your psychologically-broken body; and inspires you, it consequently bestows on you self-esteem. Oftentimes, after listening to inspirational or motivational songs like that of Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful,” or James Brown’s “Black and Proud,” your self-love, self-confidence and self-esteem levels go up. Very importantly, all the highlighted positive effects of music add value to your life, raising it greatly to a higher level. With music, life is worth living after all. Confucius, the great Chinese philosopher puts it this way: “Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.”
Concluding Remarks
From what we have said sofar, it is obvious that music is an extraordinary powerful catalyst. It can sip into your psychological and physical body and alter it profoundly for good with no side effects. Bob Marley, the renowned, global reggae legend buttressed this point by saying, “One good thing about music [is that] when it hits you, you feel no pain.” We urge you, therefore to listen to and feel other genres of music apart from your favorite one.
Become adventurous and broadminded. Begin listening to other genres of music today. (Frankly speaking, music genres are numerous and include Afro-Beat, Afro-Pop, Western Pop, Country and Western, Urban and Contemporary, Jazz, Reggae, Rhythm and Blues, Gospel, Juju, Makosa and Soukous, among others). Start the adventure now in order to have the full impact of music on your physical and psychological body in the short and long runs.
You have only one life to live. Get hooked to the full dose of music. It’s a great soother of nerves. It is an addictive, pleasurable “opium.” It can contribute to making your one life stress-less and emotionally stable. Kelly White’s eloquent advice is timely: “You have to take a deep breath and allow music to flow through you. Revel in it, allow music to break your heart with its beauty.”
Last word:
Ponder the following questions: how emotionally intelligent are you? How high is your emotional quotient (EQ)? Assuming your EQ is high, an addition to your knowledge and skills of emotional intelligence (EI) will definitely make you a much better human. And if you have little or no knowledge and skills of EI, you should quickly commence the process of acquiring them. Either way, we urge you to enroll and partake in our unique one-month online EI course and notch up your EQ to a very high level. Come on, log in to our website, https://www.hieqacad.com. Click or tap our enroll section and become our esteemed leaner. One more thing: subscribe to our YouTube channel, @hieqacad for free and pick up valuable emotional intelligence tips.
EMOTIONAL INTEREST POEM
I AM EMOTION
(By Dan G. Awe)
I am emotion,
Perpetually in motion.
I am the body’s honest informant;
Makes me overtly important
As the messages sent clear
For active listening to be dear.
Can be fat or thin;
i erupt fleetingly from within,
I know me; know others:
Psychogenic sisters and brothers.
I act like the adroit thespian;
Run like the motivated Olympian,
Helping humans rise and thrive
On impartial or imperiled plane to survive.
Good times, success and love
Toss me to cloud nine, off the cove.
I metamorphose into unfettered happiness,
Elation and excitement in the urban wilderness;
I stay put as long as I am cossetted and caressed;
I crave for pampering; shouldn’t be harassed
Challenges, stress – modernity’s sweet-bitter pills
Barge in, push and pull me to the scorched hills.
On their summits, reason and counsel I hijack,
inviting, stoking and patting conflict on the back.
Becoming anxiety, fear or anger in maturation,
I lapse into rage of avoidable, willful destruction.
In desolation I transform into depression,
Bothering less about plotted concession.
In all I can be blamed,
Can be controlled and tamed.
I am varied;
I am parried;
I am good,
Even in the hood.
I am insipid, I am lugubrious;
Can be cowed, though famous.
