We usually think more creatively when we are relaxed. Unfortunately, many of us think at the worst of times and often under pressure, when we are forced to make decisions.
As a writer, I often have to muse and think over the subject before I write, and I write best when I am relaxed. I get inspired easily when walking through the woods or while taking long nature walks. Unfortunately, such luxury are seldom available when I am on an assignment, which often has short deadline, so I do the next best thing, similar to what everyone else do when they are pressured - research and compile, then write.
Research and compilation is common in most environments, and if you know the process of problem solving, you will probably know what I mean. In a corporate environment, problem solving means identifying, analysing, implementing, and evaluating. This is not dissimilar in any other environments.
First, research and gather as much information on the subject as possible. Next, sort out the useable from the unusable then select what goes into the story. Finally write in one's own words the story based on all the information gathered, re-reading it to edit and modify where necessary.
A story written based on hard work is seldom satisfactory to the author, but at least it gets the work done. In a perfect world, the author has a lot of time to think, and if one gets a chance to write a novel or a book, some inspiration will definitely be essential. However, if writing is a daily or periodical routine that makes up a high percentage of press news and factual content then option two will be more appropriate in solving the immediate problem.
Therefore, when writing becomes a pressure instead of pleasure, it is time to retreat and rediscover inspiration within nature.
There is communication in silence where the absence of words communicates many things.
Silence reads messages in the eyes, understands the language from the body, and sees gestures that tell many tales. When someone talks to you and you remain silent, it reveals your disinterest or your ignorance. It communicates your lack of attention and a listening ear.
When someone says 'silence is golden', he or she refers to solitude, and not the absence of sound. True silence is about being quiet at heart and mind, and being of few words. It is about thinking before speaking and speaking only when necessary.
Complete silence living in the city is quite impossible, but true quietness is amidst the noises, maintaining silence in the heart and mind. If your mind is not in turmoil and your heart is calm, it is then that true peace has been attained in silence.
Quit meaningless chatter!
"Anyone can be angry - that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way - this is not easy." - Aristotle.
Understanding one's emotion to behave in a way that is socially acceptable is certainly not an easy task. It requires "a type of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one's own and others' emotions, discriminate among them, and to use the information to guide one's thinking and action" (Salovey and Sluyter 1997, quoted in DeJanasz et al., 2001, p.9). This social intelligence is what we call today as emotional intelligence or EQ.
Emotional intelligence is about developing an awareness of one's feelings and emotions to response appropriately according to the situation at hand. It requires skills like self-control, zeal, persistence, and motivation to adapt and navigate within a society.
According to experts in the field of behavioural studies, there are six fundamentals for achieving emotional intelligence. They are: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, social skills, and group work skills (DeJanasz et al., 2001, p.10).
Self-awareness requires the self-analysis of behaviour in understanding the way we conduct ourselves, our motivation, our modes of thinking, acting, and interacting. It includes understanding one's own personality or the relatively stable set of characteristics, tendencies, and temperaments formed by inheritance and by social, cultural, and environmental factors (Maddi 1980, p.10; DeJanasz et. al., 2001, p.4).
Self-regulation is about regulating oneself to adapt to situations, exercising discretion, cultivating trustworthiness, conscientiousness, innovativeness, with the ability to manage disruptive emotions and impulses.
Motivation is about what drives us to pursue one action over another. By understanding one's core drivers, whether positive or negative, one can discover the roots of one's behaviour and make adjustments necessary to modify it.
Empathy is the ability to understand others and putting oneself in the shoes of another, to read and respond to others' feelings.
Social skills relate to one's ability to interact smoothly in managing interpersonal relationships and the emotions of other people.
Group work skills focus primarily on organisational or communal collaboration and cooperation, teamwork, conflict management, and the willingness to work toward common goals.
Emotional intelligence is related to several personality traits such as conscientiousness, emotional stability, opennes to experience, agreeableness and the kinds. To some extent, EQ can be learnt but people in general do not naturally develop it by just understanding what it is. It requires coaching, constant practice, and adapting from others' feedback (McShane and Travaglione 2003, pp.125-126).
For a rough gauge of how you fair in emotional intelligence, take the quiz What's Your EQ?
REFERENCES
DeJanasz, S., Dowd, K., and Schneider, B. (2001), Interpersonal Skills in Organizations, Irwin, McGraw-Hill.
Maddi, S.R. (1980), Personality Theories: A Comparative Analysis. 4th edn. Homewood, Il, Dorsey Press.
McShane, S. and Travaglione, T. (2003), Organisational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim. NSW, McGraw-Hill.
Salovey, P. and Sluyter, D. (1997), eds., Emotional Development and Emotional Intelligence: Educational Implications. New York, Basic Books.
You dislike conflict, and you've been able to rise above the angst of the world. And when things don't go your way, you know they'll blow over quickly. Easygoing, you tend to find joy from the simple things in life. You roll with the punches, and as a result, your life is light and cheerful. You find it easy to adapt to most situations, and you're an open person. With you, what you see is what you get... and people love that!
What's Your Element?
Not long ago I wrote on the subject of Personality Traits and a few people have asked me whether there are tests that can help a person discover oneself. There are of course many methods of evaluating oneself through personality tests, but there is no one particular place or site that dare claims to provide a complete analysis of a person's personality in uncovering one's strengths and weaknesses in entirety. A good start in understanding oneself is to take a simple test such as What Number Are You?.Using this test I discovered myself to be a peacemaker who is emotionally stable and willing to find common ground with others. My friends and family often look to me to be the mediator when there is conflict and I am generally easy going and accepting. I take things as they come and avoid conflict most of the time. I am content when things are calm.
This reading or analysis to some extent expresses my sentiments and knowing this fact helps reaffirm the understanding of myself. Understanding self however is just the first step. If a person is starting on a career, this information may help direct the right direction to bridge the gap, but if the person is mid way through a career or finishing his or her dues, this test remains an analysis for knowledge because one cannot in real life change a career to become a social worker or peacemaker to serve all mankind because of a discovery of self. To what end then is the purpose of personality tests?
In my opinion, personality tests are only for discovering self for the purpose of understanding one's own character. In understanding one's character, one can then adjust and change to adapt to the situations one face in his or her environment. Hence if you ask me about personality tests, I will say there are plenty out there on the Internet, but if you ask what you can do in discovering your personality, the answer depends on where you are at in life and in what situations you are in, and from there it is up to you to see what next steps to take.
From the way the test works, it appears the number scored doesn't really matter. It's just a reference to associate the type of personality a person majors. What matters is the description of the character. Does it describe you accurately? Accuracy of the test result is dependent on how true you are in answering the questions and how well you know yourself. If an answer is in the borderline, you'll need to pick one that is most frequently true and what's closest in describing you.
As a suggestion, you may want to consider taking the test at different days and at different time of the day because your feelings probably differ when you are busy, angry, or when sad. Results can differ depending on mood too!
Have fun discovering yourself and let me know your results! :D
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You're a responsible person - with a clear sense of right and wrong. High standards are important to you, and you do everything to meet them. You are your own worst critic, feeling ashamed if you're not perfect. You have the highest integrity, and people expect you to be fair.
Have you ever imagine how your Moblog would look like if it supports animated GIFs, multimedia, and WAP? Well, if you like to see a sample, visit my new moblog at Want to WAP (12wap). You'll see animated Spidey dancing at this multimedia moblog at:If a mobile phone rings during a seminar attended despite a prior request by the organisers to turn off all phones, which group of people will immediately come to mind to blame? Is it the youngsters or the adults?
The scenario described above is fairly common and often happened in public meetings. The fact that we almost always blame the younger attendees for the nuisance phone interruption illustrates the prejudices all of us possess to some degree or to a great degree. We always think negatively of people of a certain group based on race, age, occupation, financial status, or the kinds. For example, when we look at people of a particular race, we often feel certain the types of behaviour to expect. We assume a certain group of people frequently spit on the floor and we constantly view negatively of another group of people who constantly block passageways. Which group of people do we assume are not educated?
Preconceived ideas of people within a certain group although can be generally true at times, are in reality not the entire truth. Not all people of a certain group or genre behave in the way we think they usually behave. People are not robots. They are not programmed to behave in specific ways. Some may have accumulated bad habits as a result of the society or culture they live in, but not all are the same because individuals change and vary in behaviour. No two persons are created the same.
The next time we meet a person, try not to jump to conclusion or think negatively of that particular person. Always ask the question, are the assumptions we have of them prejudices or are they true. If the answer is prejudice, then erase it out from the mind, and view the person as someone yet to be discovered. If the answer is true, then consider whether he or she may have changed. Learn to give others second chances. Never ever coin a person by the group he or she is in or by the people he or she associates.
Personality traits in people are primarily made up of four types of temperaments: sanguine, choleric, melancholy, and phlegmatic. Generally most people fall into one or two main types of temperament, however, there are exceptions where a person may possess hybrid personalities.
Understanding personality traits helps a person understand his or her character, and the character of others. Character concerns our true selves, while "personality is the outward expression of ourselves which may or may not be the same as our character" (LaHaye 1983:6) depending on how genuine we portray ourselves to others. Personality often is just a pleasing facade for an unpleasant or weak character. By learning about our temperaments, we can adjust and change for the better and it is to this end that this article is being written to help readers understand themselves in making changes and planning a course of action for the right career.
Sanguine is what we usually termed as a person with an outgoing personality who likes to mix with everybody. Sanguine often speaks before thinking and is hearty by nature. Extrovert, spontaneous, and often naïve, sanguine tends not to see the big picture of things but lives for the current. Sanguine is good at telling stories and is blessed with the gift of the gap. Weaknesses of sanguine include restlessness, weak-willed, egotistic, and emotional instability. Sanguine make good salespersons, actors, and public speakers.
Choleric is one who commands or likes to command. Often with hot temperament, choleric is strong-willed, self-sufficient, decisive, opinionated, and makes decisions for oneself and for others. Choleric thrives on activities and is not frightened by adversities. Quick to recognise opportunities and diagnosing solutions to problems, choleric possesses a well-organised mind which make them good managers and supervisors, although they may not be the best persons to understand how their staff work to achieve their goals. Weaknesses of choleric include insensitivity to subordinates, domineering, bossy, manipulative, and failure to see areas of potential pitfalls.
Melancholy is analytical, self-sacrificing, gifted, perfectionist, with sensitive emotional nature. Melancholy is prone to be introvert and often gives in to a variety of moods. Mood swings can either lift the melancholy to heights or at times to gloom and depression. When in good mood, the melancholy can become more extrovert in behaviour, but when in gloom withdraws oneself and become antagonistic. Melancholy person is a very faithful friend, but does not make friends easily. Melancholy person is dependable and expects very high standards on self and sometimes of others. Experiences of disappointments however tend to make the melancholy reluctant to see people at face value. Melancholy person possesses analytical mind, evaluates, plans and sees far into the future in understanding possible problems and pitfalls that may be encountered. Weaknesses of melancholy include self-centeredness, pessimism, moodiness and revengeful nature. Life vocation chosen by the melancholy tends to involve great personal sacrifice which makes good support staff and the types.
Phlegmatic is described by Hippocrates as one that possesses "calm, cool, slow, easy-going, well-balanced temperament" (cited in LaHaye 1983:21). Circumstances cannot ruffle the phlegmatic who can withhold a high boiling point, seldom exploding in anger or laughter. Emotions of phlegmatic are kept in control. Kind hearted and sympathetic, the phlegmatic seldom conveys his true feelings. Phlegmatic tends to be a spectator in life and tries not to get too involved with the activities of others. When put in a position for action, phlegmatic proves to be capable and efficient person. Weaknesses of phlegmatic include slowness, laziness, stubbornness, indecision, and teasing. Phlegmatic makes good diplomat, accountant, teacher, leader, scientist, or other meticulous-type of work.
Now that you understand the four temperaments of the different personality traits, evaluate yourself and discuss at this blog what you think is your type of personality. Plan out actions that can help minimise weaknesses.
REFERENCE
LaHaye, Tim (1983), Spirit-Controlled Temperament, Asian Edition. Hong Kong: Tien Dao Publishing House
