On Decision-Making, Self-Awareness and Consistency

5 Things: Issue 22

Jul 30, 2024

A Reflection

Lately, I’ve had some realizations about my own decision-making processes. I’ve found myself making decisions in a silo, especially in my personal life. This has left others feeling in the dark and excluded, which in turn has led to a lack of trust. It got me thinking about how this behaviour plays out in our leadership roles at work. Even as a self-employed individual, where we often make decisions alone, we can forget the power of the hive mind. It’s a reminder that involving others and seeking their input not only improves the outcomes but also strengthens relationships and trust.

I’ve also been thinking about my year-long journey towards cultivating behaviours and mindsets around consistency. My goal is not to be 100% consistent in the areas I’ve focused on. Instead, it’s about showing up every day and making steady progress.

This morning I looked back on the month of July and discovered that I am making progress toward some of my goals and have room to improve in others:

68% of my days in July were alcohol-free
I walked more than 10k steps 42% of the days in July (so far… 2 more days to go!)
I published 3/5 weeks this month (60%)
I read a book for at least 10 mins daily only 26% of the days in July (room to grow!)

I’ve created my tracking system for August and will continue to remind myself why I set these goals and what they will do for my life.

One Business Leadership Tip

Ever wondered how much better your team's decisions could be if everyone had a say? Inclusive decision-making might be something you want to focus on if you’re looking to cultivate a more dynamic and thriving team environment.

Focus on involving employees from various backgrounds and levels so you can tap into a rich pool of ideas and insights that you might otherwise miss.

Decisions don’t need to be made alone. By making them together, you’ll not only make smarter, more effective decisions but also make everyone feel valued and heard. When people know their voices matter, they become more motivated and engaged, driving innovation and success.

Embracing inclusive decision-making transforms your workplace into a more equitable and vibrant space where everyone can contribute their best.

One Mastery Tip

Remember that scene in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation where Clarke Griswold loses his cool after finding out he didn't get the bonus he was anticipating?

He goes off on a rant and becomes oblivious to everyone else in the room as he is overcome with anger and expresses that he'd love to have his boss delivered to him that night so he could do unspeakable things to him.

This is a classic example of someone who might not have a strong grasp of how their emotions affect others (or themselves and their levels of stress.)

If Clarke had a stronger grasp on his emotional self-awareness, he might have started to notice his temperature rising; he might have asked himself some questions to process the emotions and recognized that his disappointment (and resulting mood) put him at risk of behaving aggressively towards his belongings and family.

Mastering your emotional self-awareness is arguably the most important facet of a person’s emotional intelligence because it can help you develop your EQ in other ways.

Here are a few examples of lower emotional self-awareness. Do any other examples resonate with you or others in your life? I'd love to hear your experiences!

A manager is confronted about the way he treats others and gets angry at the 'accuser' and places blame on others (Michael Scott, anyone?)
You're stuck behind a slow driver, and you outwardly experience road rage.
Someone sitting near you taps their fingers loudly or smacks their lips as they chew gum.

The list goes on, and I get it. We all lose our cool at times. It's important to remember that developing emotional self-awareness helps us better handle disappointment, react better to uncontrollable factors (and there are lots of those as we grow our businesses!), and predict others' behaviours, which allows you to assess your own reaction before adding to the stress of a situation.

A Quote I Love

“You don't need more intensity; you need more consistency. Intensity impresses; consistency transforms.” ~ Shane Parrish

One Resource

If we don't control our "emotional temperature," we risk behaving in ways that we're likely not to be overly proud of. This is critical because we can't change what we're unaware of.

This is why it's helpful to grab a notebook and jot down the following emotions.

Anger | Happiness | Fear | Anxiety | Sadness

Under each, you'll want to describe a situation that happened to you over the last week or so that elicited that feeling. How did it make you feel physically? What was the outcome? If the outcome wasn't overly favourable, do you wish you could have handled it better?

Next, write out some emotions you're more aware of than others. Do you find yourself dwelling more on situations that make you angry, or do you spend an equal amount of time thinking about experiences that left a good taste in your mouth?

What situations usually trigger those negative feelings? Are there people who trigger those feelings more than others?

The point of all these questions is to get you thinking about how you're reacting to everyday situations and experiences. If you find that you are experiencing feelings of anger, sadness, fear, or anxiety more than you'd like, I invite you to consider this short meditation, which will help you shift your focus to more positive internal feelings.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this first aspect of emotional intelligence and how it has impacted your life! Hit 'reply' and let me know.