"How to Start Your Business Day On A High"

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"How to Start Your Business Day On A High"



- by Alison Clark



(c) WORDS in ACTION. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.bookshaker.com







Emotional Intelligence is now recognised as essential for

effective living and working. One aspect of this is being

in charge of our feelings rather than at the mercy of them.



- Do you ever 'get out of the wrong side of the bed'?

- Do you sometimes feel that 'nothing's going to go right

today'?

- Would you like to be more in control of how you feel?



If you run your own business or work freelance, you'll know

very well how much depends on you. If you learn how to

recognise your emotional state, take responsibility for it

and choose your attitude for the day, you can turn around a

day which didn't seem promising at the start.



There are 4 steps to this:



1. Begin by connecting to how you are feeling right now.

Sometimes, our surface mood disguises a deeper emotion. We

may feel grumpy and out of sorts but if we take the time to

sit quietly or reflect as we walk the dog, it may be that we

discover we are still angry or disappointed about something

that happened yesterday. Identifying and naming the emotion

is the first vital step.



2. Recognise that the emotion is in you. We sometimes

attribute how we feel to the external circumstances be it

the weather or someone that annoys us: 'He 'makes' me feel

irritated/nervous/ inadequate.' Separate out the

circumstances from your reaction and you will find that you

have a choice about how to respond. If you're not

convinced, think of it this way. If you choose to be

cheerful, the rain may still be falling and the client

grumbling. The emotion is not in the rain or the client

but in you.



3. You are more than your mood. Moods and feelings come and

go but your core self remains. Try out the difference

between saying 'I am anxious' and 'I have some anxious

feelings'. The first identifies the entire self with the

anxiety; the second suggests that the anxiety, though

present, is not the whole story. I find that this prevents

me being overwhelmed by the feeling and affords a space to

make a choice about how I will handle it, which takes us to

step 4.



4. How do I want to feel today? It is important to

acknowledge at this point that sad feelings may be entirely

appropriate. Few of us get through life without

experiencing loss or difficulty. In such cases, we may not

be ready to 'cheer up' but we can still make a choice about

how we wish to feel: calm? accepting? Maybe we need to

express some angry or rebellious feelings before we can move

into what the day brings.



Let's assume that no major crisis has arisen. You can get

clear about the positive emotion you want to experience:

motivated? lighthearted? optimistic? hopeful? Ask yourself

what positive thoughts you can adopt and what actions you

can take to promote your desired state.



Start the day by encountering yourself (Good morning, how am

I?) in these 4 steps:

Awareness, Ownership, Detachment and Choice.



Your business will reflect the positive person you are

choosing to be and when you meet other people, you'll be

able to greet them authentically: Good morning, how are you?



Inspired by Anthony de Mello: Awareness



=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Get "How to Stop Flogging a Dead Horse:

The Business Owner's Guide to Creating

Happy Endings" by Alison Clark, here...

http://www.bookshaker.com/product_info.php?products_id=128





KEYWORDS: emotional intelligence,business

owners,business,a high