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Anyone trying to come up to speed on emotional intelligence would have a pretty easy time of it since the concept is remarkably recent, and its application to business newer still. The term was coined in 1990 in a research paper by two psychology professors, John D. Mayer of UNH and Peter Salovey of Yale. Some years later, Mayer defined it in HBR this way:

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How Emotional Intelligence Became a Key Leadership Skill

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A reading list to bring you up to speed.

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Top 100 Most Influential People in the World.

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Top 100 Most Influential People in the World.

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Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Attributes for Counselors

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The more that you, as a leader, manage each of these areas, the higher your emotional intelligence. So, let's look at each element in more detail and examine how you can grow as a leader.

Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

1. Self-awareness

If you're self-aware, you always know how you feel, and you know how your emotions and your actions can affect the people around you. Being self-aware when you're in a leadership position also means having a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses, and it means behaving with humility.

So, what can you do to improve your self-awareness?

Keep a journal. Journals help you improve your self-awareness. If you spend just a few minutes each day writing down your thoughts, this can move you to a higher degree of self-awareness.

2. Self-regulation

Leaders who regulate themselves effectively rarely verbally attack others, make rushed or emotional decisions, stereotype people, or compromise their values. Self-regulation is all about staying in control.

This element of emotional intelligence, according to Goleman, also covers a leader's flexibility and commitment to personal accountability.

So, how can you improve your ability to self-regulate?

Hold yourself accountable. If you tend to blame others when something goes wrong, stop. Make a commitment to admit to your mistakes and to face the consequences, whatever they are. You'll probably sleep better at night, and you'll quickly earn the respect of those around you.

Practice being calm. The next time you're in a challenging situation, be very aware of how you act. Do you relieve your stress by shouting at someone else? Practice deep-breathing exercises to calm yourself. Also, try to write down all of the negative things you want to say, and then rip it up and throw it away. Expressing these emotions on paper (and not showing them to anyone!) is better than speaking them aloud to your team. What's more, this helps you challenge your reactions to ensure that they're fair!

3. Motivation

Self-motivated leaders work consistently toward their goals, and they have extremely high standards for the quality of their work.

How can you improve your motivation?

Re-examine why you're doing your job. It's easy to forget what you really love about your career. So, take some time to remember why you wanted this job. If you're unhappy in your role and you're struggling to remember why you wanted it, try the Five Whys technique to find the root of the problem. Starting at the root often helps you look at your situation in a new way. And make sure that your goal statements are fresh and energizing. For more on this, see our article on Goal Setting.

4. Empathy

For leaders, having empathy is critical to managing a successful team or organization. Leaders with empathy have the ability to put themselves in someone else's situation. They help develop the people on their team, challenge others who are acting unfairly, give constructive feedback, and listen to those who need it.

If you want to earn the respect and loyalty of your team, then show them you care by being empathic.

How can you improve your empathy?

Respond to feelings. You ask your assistant to work late - again. And although he agrees, you can hear the disappointment in his voice. So, respond by addressing his feelings. Tell him you appreciate how willing he is to work extra hours, and that you're just as frustrated about working late. If possible, figure out a way for future late nights to be less of an issue (for example, give him Monday mornings off).

5. Social Skills

Leaders who do well in the social skills element of emotional intelligence are great communicators. They're just as open to hearing bad news as good news, and they're experts at getting their team to support them and be excited about a new mission or project.

Leaders who have good social skills are also good at managing change and resolving conflicts diplomatically. They're rarely satisfied with leaving things as they are, but they don't sit back and make everyone else do the work: they set an example with their own behavior.

So, how can you build social skills?

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Emotional Intelligence in Leadership - Learning How to Be More Aware

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Relating to others is vital in today's workplace. Learn how to build your emotional intelligence (EI) with this article.

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Five Aspects of EI Required for Effective Leadership

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Five Aspects of EI Required for Effective Leadership

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Lead
5 Aspects of Emotional Intelligence Required for Effective Leadership

"The ability to control my emotions and actions sets me apart from other men." -- Navy SEAL Creed

Emotional intelligence is widely known to be a key component of effective leadership. The ability to be perceptively in tune with yourself and your emotions, as well as having sound situational awareness can be a powerful tool for leading a team. The act of knowing, understanding, and responding to emotions, overcoming stress in the moment, and being aware of how your words and actions affect others, is described as emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence for leadership can consist of these five attributes: self-awareness, self-management, empathy, relationship management, and effective communication.

As a Navy SEAL veteran, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and leader of one of the fastest growing digital marketing agencies in the country, I have experienced many emotions and become very aware of how those emotions can have a positive or negative effect on my ability to inspire and lead a team. Many individuals try to shut off their feelings, but as much as we distort, deny, and bury our emotions and memories, we can't ever eliminate them.

You can learn to be emotionally independent and gain the attributes that allow you to have emotional intelligence by connecting to core emotions, accepting them, and being aware of how they affect your decisions and actions.

Being able to relate behaviors and challenges of emotional intelligence on workplace performance is an immense advantage in building an exceptional team. One of the most common factors that leads to retention issues is communication deficiencies that create disengagement and doubt.

A leader lacking in emotional intelligence is not able to effectively gauge the needs, wants and expectations of those they lead. Leaders who react from their emotions without filtering them can create mistrust amongst their staff and can seriously jeopardize their working relationships. Reacting with erratic emotions can be detrimental to overall culture, attitudes and positive feelings toward the company and the mission. Good leaders must be self-aware and understand how their verbal and non-verbal communication can affect the team.

To help understand the emotional intelligence competencies required for effective leadership, I would recommend determining where you stand on the below elements.

Self-Assessment: This can be defined as having the ability to recognize one's own emotions, strengths, weaknesses, values and drivers and understanding their impact on others.

Without reflection we cannot truly understand who we are, why we make certain decisions, what we are good at, and where we fall short. In order to reach your maximum potential, you must be confident in who you are, understanding the good with the bad. Those that have a strong understanding of who they are and what they want to work on, can improve themselves on a regular basis.

Self-regulation: Also known as discipline. This involves controlling or redirecting our disruptive emotions and adapting to change circumstances in order to keep the team moving in a positive direction.

Leaders can't afford to lose their cool. Being calm is contagious, as is panic. When you take on a leadership role you can no longer afford to panic when things get stressful. When you stay calm and positive you can think and communicate more clearly with your team.

Empathy and Compassion: Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes and understand how they may feel or react to a certain situation. When one has empathy, the capacity to feel compassion is open. The emotion that we feel in response to suffering that motivates a desire to help.

The more we can relate to others, the better we will become at understanding what motivates or upsets them.

Relationship Management: You can't make deep connections with others if you're distracted. Many of us have families, other obligations, and a crazy to-do list, but building and maintaining healthy and productive relationships is essential to one's ability to gain higher emotional intelligence.

You must have the ability to communicate effectively and properly manage relationships in order to move a team of people in a desired direction.

Effective Communication: In the SEAL teams you have to do three things flawlessly to be an effective operator and team member: Move, shoot, and communicate. Communication being of the utmost importance. Studies show that effective communication is 7% the words we say and 93% tone and body language.

Misunderstandings and lack of communication are usually the basis of problems between most people. Failing to communicate effectively in a workplace leads to frustration, bitterness, and confusion among employees. Effective communication can eliminate obstacles and encourage stronger workplace relationships. When employees know their role within a company and understand how they benefit the overall direction and vision, there is a sense of value and accomplishment. Good communication results in alignment and a shared sense of purpose.

Emotional intelligence is a powerful tool critical for exceeding goals, improving critical work relationships, and creating a healthy, productive workplace and organizational culture.

Emotional intelligence is widely known to be a key component of effective leadership. The ability to be perceptively in tune with yourself and your emotions, as well as having sound situational awareness can be a powerful tool for leading a team. The act of knowing, understanding, and responding to emotions, overcoming stress in the moment, and being aware of how your words and actions affect others, is described as emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence for leadership can consist of these five attributes: self-awareness, self-management, empathy, relationship management, and effective communication.

As a Navy SEAL veteran, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and leader of one of the fastest growing digital marketing agencies in the country, I have experienced many emotions and become very aware of how those emotions can have a positive or negative effect on my ability to inspire and lead a team. Many individuals try to shut off their feelings, but as much as we distort, deny, and bury our emotions and memories, we can't ever eliminate them.

You can learn to be emotionally independent and gain the attributes that allow you to have emotional intelligence by connecting to core emotions, accepting them, and being aware of how they affect your decisions and actions.

Being able to relate behaviors and challenges of emotional intelligence on workplace performance is an immense advantage in building an exceptional team. One of the most common factors that leads to retention issues is communication deficiencies that create disengagement and doubt.

A leader lacking in emotional intelligence is not able to effectively gauge the needs, wants and expectations of those they lead. Leaders who react from their emotions without filtering them can create mistrust amongst their staff and can seriously jeopardize their working relationships. Reacting with erratic emotions can be detrimental to overall culture, attitudes and positive feelings toward the company and the mission. Good leaders must be self-aware and understand how their verbal and non-verbal communication can affect the team.

To help understand the emotional intelligence competencies required for effective leadership, I would recommend determining where you stand on the below elements.

Self-Assessment: This can be defined as having the ability to recognize one's own emotions, strengths, weaknesses, values and drivers and understanding their impact on others.

Without reflection we cannot truly understand who we are, why we make certain decisions, what we are good at, and where we fall short. In order to reach your maximum potential, you must be confident in who you are, understanding the good with the bad. Those that have a strong understanding of who they are and what they want to work on, can improve themselves on a regular basis.

Self-regulation: Also known as discipline. This involves controlling or redirecting our disruptive emotions and adapting to change circumstances in order to keep the team moving in a positive direction.

Leaders can't afford to lose their cool. Being calm is contagious, as is panic. When you take on a leadership role you can no longer afford to panic when things get stressful. When you stay calm and positive you can think and communicate more clearly with your team.

Empathy and Compassion: Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes and understand how they may feel or react to a certain situation. When one has empathy, the capacity to feel compassion is open. The emotion that we feel in response to suffering that motivates a desire to help.

The more we can relate to others, the better we will become at understanding what motivates or upsets them.

Relationship Management: You can't make deep connections with others if you're distracted. Many of us have families, other obligations, and a crazy to-do list, but building and maintaining healthy and productive relationships is essential to one's ability to gain higher emotional intelligence.

You must have the ability to communicate effectively and properly manage relationships in order to move a team of people in a desired direction.

Effective Communication: In the SEAL teams you have to do three things flawlessly to be an effective operator and team member: Move, shoot, and communicate. Communication being of the utmost importance. Studies show that effective communication is 7% the words we say and 93% tone and body language.

Misunderstandings and lack of communication are usually the basis of problems between most people. Failing to communicate effectively in a workplace leads to frustration, bitterness, and confusion among employees. Effective communication can eliminate obstacles and encourage stronger workplace relationships. When employees know their role within a company and understand how they benefit the overall direction and vision, there is a sense of value and accomplishment. Good communication results in alignment and a shared sense of purpose.

Emotional intelligence is a powerful tool critical for exceeding goals, improving critical work relationships, and creating a healthy, productive workplace and organizational culture.

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5 Aspects of Emotional Intelligence Required for Effective Leadership

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Lead Emotional intelligence is widely known to be a key component of effective leadership. The ability to be perceptively in tune with yourself and your emotions, as well as having sound situational awareness can be a powerful tool for leading a team.

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When most people imagine intelligence, they picture a mathematician solving equations, a novelist writing great works of literature or a philosopher expounding on wise principles.

But brilliance takes many forms, not least of which is the ability to comprehend and manage emotions. Known as emotional intelligence, this trait is often overlooked, yet crucial for success as a business leader.

Here's what having emotional intelligence provides you with:
Acute Awareness
One of the defining features of emotional intelligence is the ability to comprehend the effects of your feelings. This is crucial for making sound, objective decisions when your pride and self-esteem are at stake. All leaders must face situations where their emotions make a decision seem better than it is.

If you previously expressed support for a certain strategy, for example, your pride will be tied up with that strategy, making it harder to recognize if it isn't working. Leaders who have emotional intelligence are more likely to realize when pride and other emotions are influencing their thinking, allowing them to make more rational, impartial choices.
Impact Interpretation
In addition to reigning in your own feelings, emotional intelligence makes it easier to anticipate and respond to others' sentiments. As much as we may want for it to be objective, business is an emotional experience.

Bad news from work can shock or dismay your employees, while good news may make them unreasonably optimistic. Emotional intelligence means you can tell ahead of time how others will react and develop a strategy to keep them grounded.
Mental Health Management
Those with emotional intelligence have an easier time assessing the emotional and psychological state of their employees. This makes it easier to determine if someone is suffering from:

* Anxiety

* Depression

* Grief

* Trauma

* Eating disorders

By recognizing threats to your employees' mental health, you can provide them with the support and professional resources they need to recover. Not only is this good for their health but it promotes a more harmonious, productive workplace.
Cultivated Communication
Leaders with emotional intelligence have an improved ability to gauge others' responses to their words and actions. This makes it easier for you to tell if your employees really understand what you are saying or are confused but unwilling to say so. You can then refine your messages accordingly, developing reliable ways of communicating with everyone who works for you.

Emotional intelligence also makes it easier for you to listen to what other people are saying clearly and without judgment, ensuring that others can always give you the information you need.
Helpful Humor
Never underestimate the value of humor in business. A good joke or clever play on words can cheer up dismayed employees, win over skeptical customers and draw positive attention to your brand. If you have emotional intelligence, it will be easier to tell what people will find funny. You can also determine in which situations humor will be appropriate, finding the proper balance between serious work and lightheartedness.

While intelligence is important, emotional intelligence is a key to success in leadership and in being able to relate to others. When dealing with others, truly try to place yourself in their situation. It will help you choose the best method to solve problems and achieve your goals.

How has emotional intelligence helped you to make sound and informed decisions?

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Council Post: Why Emotional Intelligence Is Indispensable For Leaders

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When most people imagine intelligence, they picture a mathematician solving equations, a novelist writing great works of literature or a philosopher expounding on wise principles. But brilliance takes many forms, not least of which is the ability to comprehend and manage emotions.

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In some jobs, being in touch with emotions is essential. In others, it seems to be a detriment. And like any skill, being able to read people can be used for good or evil.

Some of the greatest moments in human history were fueled by emotional intelligence. When Martin Luther King, Jr. presented his dream, he chose language that would stir the hearts of his audience. "Instead of honoring this sacred obligation" to liberty, King thundered, "America has given the Negro people a bad check." He promised that a land "sweltering with the heat of oppression" could be "transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice," and envisioned a future in which "on the red hills of Georgia sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood."

Delivering this electrifying message required emotional intelligence-the ability to recognize, understand, and manage emotions. Dr. King demonstrated remarkable skill in managing his own emotions and in sparking emotions that moved his audience to action. As his speechwriter Clarence Jones reflected, King delivered "a perfectly balanced outcry of reason and emotion, of anger and hope. His tone of pained indignation matched that note for note."
Emotional intelligence is important, but the unbridled enthusiasm has obscured a dark side.
Recognizing the power of emotions, another one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century spent years studying the emotional effects of his body language. Practicing his hand gestures and analyzing images of his movements allowed him to become "an absolutely spellbinding public speaker," says the historian Roger Moorhouse-"it was something he worked very hard on." His name was Adolf Hitler.

Since the 1995 publication of Daniel Goleman's bestseller, emotional intelligence has been touted by leaders, policymakers, and educators as the solution to a wide range of social problems. If we can teach our children to manage emotions, the argument goes, we'll have less bullying and more cooperation. If we can cultivate emotional intelligence among leaders and doctors, we'll have more caring workplaces and more compassionate healthcare. As a result, emotional intelligence is now taught widely in secondary schools, business schools, and medical schools.

Emotional intelligence is important, but the unbridled enthusiasm has obscured a dark side. New evidence shows that when people hone their emotional skills, they become better at manipulating others. When you're good at controlling your own emotions, you can disguise your true feelings. When you know what others are feeling, you can tug at their heartstrings and motivate them to act against their own best interests.

Social scientists have begun to document this dark side of emotional intelligence. In emerging research led by University of Cambridge professor Jochen Menges, when a leader gave an inspiring speech filled with emotion, the audience was less likely to scrutinize the message and remembered less of the content. Ironically, audience members were so moved by the speech that they claimed to recall more of it.

The authors call this the awestruck effect, but it might just as easily be described as the dumbstruck effect. One observer reflected that Hitler's persuasive impact came from his ability to strategically express emotions-he would "tear open his heart"-and these emotions affected his followers to the point that they would "stop thinking critically and just emote."
"Whenever we wanted to persuade our staff to support a particular project we always tried to break their hearts."
Leaders who master emotions can rob us of our capacities to reason. If their values are out of step with our own, the results can be devastating. New evidence suggests that when people have self-serving motives, emotional intelligence becomes a weapon for manipulating others. In a study led by the University of Toronto psychologist Stéphane Côté, university employees filled out a survey about their Machiavellian tendencies, and took a test measuring their knowledge about effective strategies for managing emotions. Then, Cote's team assessed how often the employees deliberately undermined their colleagues. The employees who engaged in the most harmful behaviors were Machiavellians with high emotional intelligence. They used their emotional skills to demean and embarrass their peers for personal gain. In one computer company studied by Tel-Aviv University professor Gideon Kunda, a manager admitted to telling a colleague "how excited we all are with what he is doing," but at the same time, "distancing my organization from the project," so "when it blows up," the company's founder would blame the colleague.

Shining a light on this dark side of emotional intelligence is one mission of a research team led by University College London professor Martin Kilduff. According to these experts, emotional intelligence helps people disguise one set of emotions while expressing another for personal gain. Emotionally intelligent people "intentionally shape their emotions to fabricate favorable impressions of themselves," Professor Kilduff's team writes. "The strategic disguise of one's own emotions and the manipulation of others' emotions for strategic ends are behaviors evident not only on Shakespeare's stage but also in the offices and corridors where power and influence are traded."

Of course, people aren't always using emotional intelligence for nefarious ends. More often than not, emotional skills are simply instrumental tools for goal accomplishment. In a study of emotions at the Body Shop, a research team led by Stanford professor Joanne Martin discovered that founder Anita Roddick leveraged emotions to inspire her employees to fundraise for charity. As Roddick explained, "Whenever we wanted to persuade our staff to support a particular project we always tried to break their hearts." However, Roddick also encouraged employees to be strategic in the timing of their emotion expressions. In one case, after noticing that an employee often "breaks down in tears with frustration," Roddick said it was acceptable to cry, but "I told her it has to be used. I said, 'Here, cry at this point in the ... meeting." When viewing Roddick as an exemplar of an emotionally intelligent leader, it becomes clear that there's a fine line between motivation and manipulation. Walking that tightrope is no easy task.
In jobs that required extensive attention to emotions, higher emotional intelligence translated into better performance. In jobs that involved fewer emotional demands, the results reversed.
In settings where emotions aren't running high, emotional intelligence may have hidden costs. Recently, psychologists Dana Joseph of the University of Central Florida and Daniel Newman of the University of Illinois comprehensively analyzed every study that has ever examined the link between emotional intelligence and job performance. Across hundreds of studies of thousands of employees in 191 different jobs, emotional intelligence wasn't consistently linked with better performance. In jobs that required extensive attention to emotions, higher emotional intelligence translated into better performance. Salespeople, real-estate agents, call-center representatives, and counselors all excelled at their jobs when they knew how to read and regulate emotions-they were able to deal more effectively with stressful situations and provide service with a smile.

However, in jobs that involved fewer emotional demands, the results reversed. The more emotionally intelligent employees were, the lower their job performance. For mechanics, scientists, and accountants, emotional intelligence was a liability rather than an asset. Although more research is needed to unpack these results, one promising explanation is that these employees were paying attention to emotions when they should have been focusing on their tasks. If your job is to analyze data or repair cars, it can be quite distracting to read the facial expressions, vocal tones, and body languages of the people around you. In suggesting that emotional intelligence is critical in the workplace, perhaps we've put the cart before the horse.

Instead of assuming that emotional intelligence is always useful, we need to think more carefully about where and when it matters. In a recent study at a healthcare company, I asked employees to complete a test about managing and regulating emotions, and then asked managers to evaluate how much time employees spent helping their colleagues and customers. There was no relationship whatsoever between emotional intelligence and helping: Helping is driven by our motivations and values, not by our abilities to understand and manage emotions. However, emotional intelligence was consequential when examining a different behavior: challenging the status quo by speaking up with ideas and suggestions for improvement.

Emotionally intelligent employees spoke up more often and more effectively. When colleagues were treated unjustly, they felt the righteous indignation to speak up, but were able to keep their anger in check and reason with their colleagues. When they went out on a limb to advocate for gender equity, emotional intelligence helped them keep their fear at bay. When they brought ideas for innovation to senior leaders, their ability to express enthusiasm helped them avoid threatening leaders. On a much smaller scale, they were able to follow Martin Luther King Jr.'s lead in rocking the boat while keeping it steady.

More than two decades have passed since psychologists Peter Salovey at Yale and John Mayer at the University of New Hampshire introduced the concept of emotional intelligence in 1990. Why has it taken us so long to develop a more nuanced view? After Daniel Goleman popularized the idea in 1995, many researchers-perhaps awestruck themselves by enthusiasm for the concept of emotional intelligence-proceeded to conduct studies that were fatally flawed. As University of Lausanne professor John Antonakis observed, "practice and voodoo science is running way ahead of rigorous research."

One of the most persistent problems was the use of self-report measures, which asked employees to rate their own emotional abilities on items like "I can tell how people are feeling even if they never tell me" and "I am generally very good at calming someone down when he or she is upset." Abilities cannot be accurately measured with self-reports. As emotion experts Sigal Barsade of Wharton and Donald Gibson of Fairfield University lament, "One might compare this approach to assessing mathematical skills by asking respondents, 'How good are you at solving algebraic equations?' rather than asking the person to actually solve an algebraic equation."

Thanks to more rigorous research methods, there is growing recognition that emotional intelligence-like any skill-can be used for good or evil. So if we're going to teach emotional intelligence in schools and develop it at work, we need to consider the values that go along with it and where it's actually useful. As Professor Kilduff and colleagues put it, it is high time that emotional intelligence is "pried away from its association with desirable moral qualities."

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In some jobs, being in touch with emotions is essential. In others, it seems to be a detriment. And like any skill, being able to read people can be used for good or evil. Some of the greatest moments in human history were fueled by emotional intelligence. When Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Research by the respected Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) in the U.S. found that the primary causes of executive derailment involve deficiencies in emotional competence. Each year, CCL serves more than 20,000 individuals and 2,000 organizations, including more than 80 of the Fortune 100 companies. It says the three main reasons for failure are difficulty in handling change, inability to work well in a team, and poor interpersonal relations.

International search firm Egon Zehnder International analyzed 515 senior executives and discovered that those who were strongest in emotional intelligence were more likely to succeed than those strongest in either IQ or relevant previous experience. Research that has been done on the relationship between emotional intelligence (EQ) and IQ has shown only a weak correlation between the two.

The Carnegie Institute of Technology carried out research that showed that 85% of our financial success was due to skills in "human engineering", personality, and ability to communicate, negotiate, and lead. They found that only 15% was due to technical ability. In other words people skills or skills highly related to emotional intelligence were crucial skills. Nobel Prize winning Israeli-American psychologist Daniel Kahneman found that people would rather do business with a person they like and trust rather than someone they don't, even if that that person is offering a better product at a lower price.

People would rather do business with a person they like and trust rather than someone they don't, even if that that person is offering a better product at a lower price.

To test out his findings, think of the last time you purchased a major item, a home, automobile, or large appliance where you had to dealings with a salesperson. Was the person someone who you liked and trusted? In my talks, I have found that whenever I asked that question, inevitably the entire audience answered that, yes, the person they bought a large item from was someone they liked and trusted. This theory about why salespeople with the right people skills do better than those who lack them is borne out by a study carried out by the Hay/McBer Research and Innovation Group in 1997. In a study carried out in a large national insurance company in 1997, they found that sales agents weak in emotional areas such as self-confidence, initiative, and empathy sold policies with an average premium of $54,000, while those strong in 5 of 8 emotional competencies sold policies on the average worth $114,000.

Much of the research that has been done on emotional intelligence has been at the executive leadership level. The higher up the organization, the more crucial emotional intelligence abilities are as the impacts are greater and felt throughout the entire organization. There have been some studies, however, that show impacts at all levels.

The higher up the organization the more crucial emotional intelligence abilities are as the impacts are greater and felt throughout the entire organization.

For example, a study by McClelland in 1999 showed that after supervisors in a manufacturing plant received training in emotional competencies such as how to listen better, lost-time accidents decreased by 50% and grievances went down from 15 per year to three. The plant itself exceeded productivity goals by $250,000.

The same principles apply in all areas of life, whether at work or in relationships. Everyone wants to work with people who are easy to get along with, supportive, likeable, and can be trusted. We want to be beside people that do not get upset easily and can keep their composure when things do not work out according to plan.

Self-awareness. The first thing that is essential for any degree of emotional intelligence is self-awareness. People with a high degree of self-awareness have a solid understanding of their own emotions, their strengths, weaknesses, and what drives them. Neither overly critical nor unrealistically hopeful, these people are honest with themselves and others. These people recognize how their feelings impact them, other people around them, and their performance at work. They have a good understanding of their values and goals and where they are going in life. They are confident as well as aware of their limitations and less likely to set themselves up for failure.

We can recognize self-aware people by their willingness to talk about themselves in a frank, non-defensive manner. A good interview question is to ask about a time that the interviewee got carried away by their emotions and did something they later regretted. The self-aware person will be open and frank with their answers. Self-deprecating humor is a good indicator of someone who has good self-awareness. Red flags are people who stall or try to avoid the question, seem irritated, or frustrated by the question.

Ability To Self-Regulate Emotions. We all have emotions which drive us and there is nothing we can do to avoid them. People who are good at self-regulation, however, are able to manage their emotions so that they do not control their words and actions. While they feel bad moods and impulses as much as anyone else, they do not act upon them. People who act upon their negative feelings create havoc, disruptions, and lasting bad feelings all around them. We feel before we think and people who constantly react from an emotional state never wait long enough to allow their thoughts to override their emotions.

People who self-regulate have the ability to wait until their emotions pass, allowing them to respond from a place of reason, rather than simply reacting to feelings. The signs of someone who is good at self-regulation are reflection, thoughtfulness, comfort with ambiguity, change, and not having all the answers. In an interview, look for people who take a little time to reflect and think before they answer.

Empathy. Empathy is another important aspect to look for when hiring. Someone who has empathy will have an awareness of the feelings of others and consider those feelings in their words and actions. This does not mean that they will tiptoe around or be unwilling to make tough decisions for fear of hurting someone's feelings. It simply means that they are aware of, and take into consideration the impact on others. They are willing to share their own worries and concerns and openly acknowledge other's emotions. A good way to look for empathy in an interview is to ask a candidate about a situation where a co-worker was angry with them and how they dealt with it. Look for a willingness to understand the source of the co-workers anger, even though they may not agree with the reasons for it.

Social skills. Social skill is another area of emotional intelligence that is highly important in the workplace. To have good social skills requires a high level of the other skills aforementioned as well as the ability to relate and find common ground with a wide range of people. It goes beyond just friendliness and the ability to get along with others.

People with social skills are excellent team players as they have the ability to move an agenda along and keep focus while at the same time remaining aware of the emotional climate of the group and possess the ability to respond to it. These people are excellent at making connections, networking, and bringing people together to work on projects. They are able to bring their emotional intelligence skills into play in a larger arena. To look for social skills in an interview, ask questions related to projects and difficulties encountered around varying agendas, temperaments, and getting people to buy in.

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Why Emotionally Intelligent People Are More Successful

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Research by the respected Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) in the U.S. found that the primary causes of executive derailment involve deficiencies in emotional competence. Each year, CCL serves more than 20,000 individuals and 2,000 organizations, including more than 80 of the Fortune 100 companies.

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Author: Angie Hickman | 3/1/2021

Twenty years ago, as a first-year high school teacher, Tinisha Parker, Ph.D., encountered one of her first opportunities to reject the status quo. As she read the social studies textbook to prepare for the next day's lesson, she was alarmed to find a single paragraph on slavery. Not only was the text astonishingly brief, it went beyond whitewashing into the realm of complete fiction.

"It talked about how caring and nurturing slave owners were," she recalled. "I was raised with brutal history; my dad didn't hide the atrocities of slavery. I knew at an early age how cruel and horrific that system was. I just knew 'this isn't right; this isn't the truth.' I heard my dad in my head saying, 'you better not let your students,' most of whom were white, 'believe this.'" Although Parker spoke from her heart and told her students the truth, as only the third-ever Black teacher hired in a school of 200 staff, she hesitated to take the issue outside of her classroom.

Today, it's different. As the executive director of student services for Gwinnett County Public Schools in metro Atlanta, Parker is having the conversations and instituting policies that break down systemic racism in schools. "There has to be an expectation that this work will be done," she said. "In my district, we're trying to change hearts and minds. We can mandate behaviors, but that doesn't mean hearts and minds have changed. You have to have policies and expectations about adult professional learning and how adults will treat students in your district, your building and your school."

Across the nation, efforts to change hearts and minds are mixed, at best. ASCA's recently released 2020 State of the Profession survey report asked school counselors how their schools or districts are supporting and promoting diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) and access this year. More than one-third (36%) said their schools have taken no actions, although another one-third have required DEI training for all faculty.

Further, individual school counselors' efforts to address racism and bias in their school counseling programs fail to go beyond the basics, the data shows. About 42% of school counselors said they are monitoring student behavior to identify racist behavior or speech, 38% are providing individual counseling and 35% are providing classroom lessons, according to the report. However, just 22% each are identifying and advocating to revise or remove policies that disproportionately affect students of color or using data to identify students who should be included in the most rigorous coursework.

Stephen Sharp, school counselor at Landisville Middle School in Pennsylvania, isn't surprised. "Systems are resistant to change," he said. "For school counselors to be confronted with that and not know where to start, that doesn't surprise me. It can feel like overwhelming work. Our school systems have been systems of tremendous opportunity and tremendous oppression, and that's going to be difficult work to change what they are."

Accepting the Calling
Doing that work, however, is an ethical imperative. The ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors are clear that school counselors are leaders, advocates, collaborators and consultants who create systemic change by providing equitable educational access and success. Further, the standards challenge school counselors to work to identify, understand and address their own bias and privilege that may hinder them from seeing and understanding students who may not feel safe or feel marginalized or oppressed. They are charged with promoting cultural competence to create a safer and more inclusive school environment and using restorative, rather than punitive, practices.

"I just can't imagine that school counselors, with the training we undergo, the ethical standards we are held to and the very nature of the work we undertake, would not instinctively and intrinsically understand that this is our work, this is our calling, this is our mission," said Jan Desmarais-Morse, sixth-grade school counselor at Goshen Middle School in Indiana.

The ASCA Standards in Practice document Eliminating Racism and Bias in Schools: The School Counselor's Role states that all educators have an obligation to end racism and bias and to be an important part of the solution. This means identifying gaps in achievement and opportunities, addressing disproportionate rates of discipline for students of color, eliminating the barriers to participation in AP classes and other rigorous coursework, and more. "School counselors must challenge race-based comments, lead efforts to change inequitable policies and customs and critically apply their expertise to address institutional bias," said Eric Sparks, Ed.D., ASCA deputy executive director. "Too often, the focus is on 'fixing the student,' rather than changing the system."

It's a reality the school counseling profession and, more broadly, education as a whole has woken up to. "The field of school counseling is practiced predominantly by persons who are white and female, yet the demographics of students we have an impact on is composed of a kaleidoscope of color, gender, ethnicity and more," Desmarais-Morse said. "As school counselors, we are obligated to advocate for the equitable treatment of all students. School counselors benefiting from the advantages of being white simply do not have the luxury to ignore that privilege."

Sharp added that, as you go about changing systems, it's important to "separate yourself from the intention part to the outcome part." In other words, "Are we building things that create that lasting impact and effect? Are standards and policies shifting things sufficiently to create a less-racist world? We need to redefine the system in ways it can be more stable for everyone. And school counselors are well-positioned for upstream supports and interventions."

Although it's difficult to hear, school counseling has been a tool of oppression, Sharp maintained. "'Guidance counselors' always had a history of telling students who was right and who was wrong, and not always countering that with supports and opportunities. Career interest is based off of exposure, and exposure is absolutely a racialized and class-driven process. Lack of exposure isn't the same as lack of interest. Our postsecondary pathways have been pretty segregated and then the careers after that. When school counselors show their students what were historic barriers, they can then consciously navigate those spaces."

To that end, Alicia Oglesby has conversations with students about underrepresentation in certain fields and asks, for example, "Why do you think there aren't a ton of Black people who work at Google?" Ultimately, racial justice work is infused in every aspect of her program - from academic advising to college and career planning to social/emotional learning. She's constantly asking, "Who would be disadvantaged by this change in policy or practice?"

"It has really been a muscle I've had to work," said Oglesby, who is director of school counseling at Bishop McNamara High School in Maryland and co-author of "Interrupting Racism: Equity and Justice in School Counseling." "I certainly make mistakes, but I learn from them more quickly now."

Making it Personal, not Easy
Ensuring school counselors, and K-12 educators in general, "get it" is a difficult challenge. "Make it personal," said Damien Sweeney, Ed.D., program coordinator for comprehensive school counseling for the Kentucky Department of Education. "When you then ask educators to look at the idea of privilege through the lens of a Black or traditionally marginalized student or colleague, the hope is they will begin to understand many others have far fewer privileges. This leads to an openness to learn. At this point, we can teach educators about the importance of courageous conversations about race, race-based stress and trauma, and educating all students with high expectations (regardless of skin color). Our Black, Latinx and traditionally marginalized students have stories that need to be told and heard. Our classrooms should be safe spaces that are accepting of these stories."

It's easy to incorporate resources into our programming in which students see their own reflection, Demarais-Morse said. Use videos that include representation of the student population or children's books with people of color or that address social justice issues. The more difficult work requires personal and emotional risk. "School counselors might first reflect upon where they stand in working toward becoming anti-racist. Are they working from a place of fear, or are they working to learn, understand and grow? Each step in this reflection will demand that we take action toward the next step."

Building a foundation of trust is a good place to start, said Rebecca Atkins, senior administrator of school counseling for the Wake County Public School System in North Carolina, and co-author, with Oglesby, of "Interrupting Racism." "School counselors rely deeply on creating trust with all of their stakeholders," she said. That trust with stakeholders is "amplified when you talk about something that is difficult for people and heavily weighted in emotions and history."

Building trust requires visibility. "The school has to be able to see you being out and about making connections." Following through with promises is critical. "School counselors may promise all the things but not deliver all the things," Atkins said. "That may come from a good place, but that breaks trust if you don't do it. Be the person who advocates verbally and vocally, so teachers and parents know you're advocating," she said.

Support from the highest levels certainly helps, too. For example, last summer the Kentucky Board of Education passed a resolution against all acts of racism and violence and committing to "creating a better educational community for students and, importantly, for African American students and students of color," Sweeney said. The resolution also stated that "educational leaders must embrace diversity, ensure equality and shape the future of all of Kentucky's children." The Kentucky Board of Education is supporting "inclusionary teacher preparation programs that put highly qualified teachers of color in front of students and school improvement options for local districts to close achievement gaps," he said.
Our Black, Latinx and traditionally marginalized students have stories that need to be told and heard.

Following this resolution, the Kentucky Department of Education hired a deputy commissioner of education and chief equity officer. Sweeney and his colleagues are now working on a new equity toolkit and dashboard to study current policies, practices and curricula. "When people tell us there is a lack of diversity at their schools, we let them know this provides even more of a reason to learn from or connect with others who are different from them and offer students opportunities to have deeper conversations about race."

A barrier to some of those deeper conversations that result in systemic change is simply that the profession is mostly female and white, said Wendy Rock, Ph.D., assistant professor of counseling and school counseling program coordinator at Southeastern Louisiana University. "The ASCA National Model is a framework, not a prescription. It provides guidelines for disaggregating data to identify inequities. School counseling programs utilizing the ASCA National Model as their framework can and should address racism. I can't tell you how long I have heard, especially in a school setting, 'why are you making this about race?' Whenever someone of color tried to draw attention to the problem, we gaslighted them. I think as a profession, our own bias and privilege have inhibited us from recognizing the problem."

Refining School Counselor Education
Moving the needle beyond just recognizing the problem can start with practical things, Parker said. In her school counselor preparation program, no one talked about access to AP tests, barriers to standardized tests, college applications or how to request fee waivers. Newly minted school counselors enter the field well-versed in clinical practice, counseling theory and rapport building but not necessarily the real work at the high school level. "We talked about career readiness. We didn't talk about fee waivers for applications. And it's not just the teaching of the college application process; the gatekeeping of advanced, honors and AP courses or fee waivers but the equity issues that surround them. These aren't things in your graduate program. You find out on the job." Parker suggested school counseling faculty can enhance their programs by reviewing state guidelines to ensure their students are prepared for what they'll be required to do once they're in the building. "Have conversations and teach around those things," she said.

Atkins agreed. "When we have mock interviews [with school counseling candidates], I say 'talk to me about how you're going to make a difference for equity and access for students.'" The answer is always "culturally responsive counseling," but typical school counselors spend the majority of their time outside of individual counseling, she said. "Culturally responsive counseling is important, but we have to be careful not to think that's our solution. Students need support, but the problem is the system. Until every school counseling preparation program is emphasizing systemic change and how that works in a school, I don't think we'll see a huge difference. I think that's a big gap in many graduate programs."

Anti-racism is just now being discussed as it relates to school counseling programs, said Dana Griffin, Ph.D., associate professor and Dean's Fellow for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "I tell my [school counseling] students that multicultural counseling is not simply understanding a theory or approach to working with diverse youth. It's being aware that their experiences are different because of the '-isms' and other forms of injustice, and it's about understanding how we ourselves have implicit biases and beliefs that contribute to the oppression. A school counseling program must be comprehensive in nature to address all these injustices and other acts of oppression. That may mean that part of your job is conducting teacher trainings and workshops, using data to highlight inequities and pointing these things out when you hear or see them."

It's important for graduate students to understand the "contours of the education system," Sharp said, so they understand how the system creates opportunities for some and not for others.

"All the work we are preparing our students to do, we must be willing to do ourselves in our programs and institutions," Rock said. "All of this takes a great deal of courage, so I think building the capacity of our students to be leaders and advocates is key."

Battling the Barriers
A number of school counselors responding to the ASCA State of the Profession survey indicated they had lobbied their administrator or district for the opportunity to train other faculty in racism and bias, to update curricula and to update racist policies but were shot down. It's frustrating, but there are ways around it.
For example, "Any time you hit resistance, a great strategy is to connect the work you're trying to move forward with the things your administrator cares about," Atkins said. "If your administrator isn't ready for an honest conversation about race and racism, do they want all their students to come to class and do well in school? Tie the work you're doing with the data outcomes in the school."

Additionally, share with administrators and district personnel your ethical mandate. "The ASCA Ethical Standards are very clear, and you can tie it back to that," Atkins said. "Ultimately, many of the things we want to see in anti-racist work is fundamentally good practice. If you're feeling like you're getting a lot of pushback, find your people," she said. "Having a group of people will help you stand up for what's right and will also help you not lose your steam. But if you feel like you're the only person talking about equity and racism in your school, find somebody in your district or in your state association. It's impossible to do by yourself because you're working against such a huge system. It's literally the way the entire system was made."

For Oglesby, sometimes pushback means she's doing something right. "Part of how I can continue to move forward with this work really is knowing that pushback is inevitable. There's a very delicate balance between advocating fiercely and making sure I keep my job. I know it's tough, and it's difficult at first. It does get easier. If you have the privilege and benefit of seeing things come together and shift in your school community, it is an awesome thing."

"I believe that 99.9% of school counselors are here because they want to do what's best for kids," Atkins said. "If you haven't made any changes based on 2020, do some deep learning about the history of racism in education. Once you see it, you can't unsee it. It's very insidious. You can't not notice it's there. But once you learn, don't stop there. We must choose action."

Angie Hickman is ASCA director of research and marketing.

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- American School Counselor Association (ASCA)

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Author: Angie Hickman | 3/1/2021 Twenty years ago, as a first-year high school teacher, Tinisha Parker, Ph.D., encountered one of her first opportunities to reject the status quo. As she read the social studies textbook to prepare for the next day's lesson, she was alarmed to find a single paragraph on slavery.

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Racial Justice in Organizations (RJIO)-Cases

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Racial Justice in Organizations (RJIO)-Cases

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At Center for Racial Justice in Education, we believe that racial justice work is a journey, and requires an on-going commitment to racial justice education, self-reflection, and community engagement. From customized trainings, to consultations, to year-long initiatives, we offer the following opportunities for longer-term partnership.

Racial Justice In Organizations (RJIO) Program

In this year-long partnership, schools and organizations will demonstrate their sustained commitment to dismantling institutional racism by partnering with CRJE to engage in long-term strategy and execution. Specifically, components of the program include:

1:1 Executive Coaching sessions for up to 3 members of the senior leadership team.

Support with the creation and cultivation of a Racial Equity Council charged with collectively leading the racial justice work in your organization.

Assessment process supporting the creation of a community-wide racial equity plan.

Training/development for predetermined stakeholder groups within the community.

Delivery of recommendations/action plan at the end of the CRJE engagement.

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At Center for Racial Justice in Education, we believe that racial justice work is a journey, and requires an on-going commitment to racial justice education, self-reflection, and community engagement. From customized trainings, to consultations, to year-long initiatives, we offer the following oppor

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Good to Great (Jim Collins)
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Leaders Make the Future (Bob Johansen)
Leadership on the Line (Linsky & Heifetz)
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Reframing the Path to School Leadership (Bolman & Deal)
Shackleton's Way (Morrell & Capparell)
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (Lencioni)
The Leadership Challenge (Kouzes & Posner)
The Wizard & The Warrior (Bolman & Deal)
With God on All Sides:  Leadership in a Devout and Diverse America (Hicks)
Emotionally Intelligent Leadership: A Guide for Students (Shankman, Allen & Haber-Curran)
Exploring Leadership: For College Students Who Want to Make A Difference (Komives, Lucas, McMahon)
Identity & Leadership (Chavez & Santo)
On Becoming a Servant Leader (Greenleaf)
Making Change Happen in Student Affairs (Barr, McClellan, Sandeen)
Creating Multicultural Change on Campus (Pope, Reynolds, Mueller)
How Colleges Work (Birnbaum)
Changing on the Job: Developing Leaders for a Complex World (Berger)
Do Good Well: Your Guide to Leadership, Action, and Social Innovation (Vasan & Przybylo)
Enhancing Campus Capacity for Leadership: An Examination of Grassroots Leaders in Higher Education (Kezar & Lester)

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HOW TO BE A LEADER  - Motivational Speech By Simon Sinek

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Need some motivation to help you achieve your goals?

Here is a list of the best positive motivational quotes that will help boost your confidence and uplift your spirit so you believe in yourself, stay positive, keep going, and never give up.

Lets face it...

We all get down from time to time because life is not easy.

There are many challenges that we must face that can cause us a great deal of pain and frustration.

When this happens, it is important to find ways that you can reset and shift your thinking so that you get back on track.

Your mind is a powerful tool and when you are able to tap into its power and put your focus towards what you want to accomplish, anything is truly possible.

Whether you are an entrepreneur, student, athlete, parent, teacher, business person, fitness enthusiast, or just want to improve your life in some way, these motivational words and encouraging quotes will inspire you to stay positive so you can become successful and achieve great things in your life.

On this page, you will find the top success motivational quotes, sayings, phrases, and messages (with images and pictures) that are quite deep and will touch upon strength, goals, dealing with hard times, achievement, overcoming adversity, self esteem, positive thinking, fear of failure, hard work, overcoming self-doubt, determination, discipline, focus, and more!

If you want quotes that focus more on purpose, meaning, courage, confidence, self-empowerment, greatness, and being your best self, visit this page on inspirational quotes.

Feel free to pin these on your Pinterest board.

And if you want to use the images on your blog, just make sure you link back to this page.

Short Motivational Quotes

Tough times don't last. Tough people do. - Robert H. Schuller

Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever. - Lance Armstrong

A problem is a chance for you to do your best. - Duke Ellington

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. - Jim Rohn

A little progress each day adds up to big results. - Satya Nani

If you get tired, learn to rest, not quit. - Unknown

Success consists of getting up just one more time than you fall. - Oliver Goldsmith

Don't stop until you're proud. - Unknown

Focus on your goal. Don't look in any direction but ahead. - Unknown

Courage is one step ahead of fear. - Coleman Young

Don't wish it were easier. Wish you were better. ― Jim Rohn

I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have. - Thomas Jefferson

Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day-in and day-out. - Robert Collier

We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey. - Kenji Miyazawa

Believe you can and you're halfway there. - Theodore Roosevelt

Difficult roads always lead to beautiful destinations. - Zig Ziglar

Hustle until you no longer have to introduce yourself. - Unknown

Be so good they can't ignore you. - Steve Martin

If it doesn't challenge you, it won't change you.

Self Motivation Quotes

Look in the mirror. That's your competition. - John Assaraf

The first and greatest victory is to conquer self. - Plato
You don't find will power, you create it.
It's not about perfect. It's about effort. - Jillian Michaels
Don't wait for opportunity. Create it.
The pain you feel today will be the strength you feel tomorrow. - Unknown

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. - Arthur Ashe

You don't want to look back and know you could have done better. - Unknown

Never give up. Great things take time. Be patient.

With confidence you have won before you have started. - Marcus Garvey

Success is what comes after you stop making excuses. - Luis Galarza

You will never always be motivated. You have to learn to be disciplined. - Unknown

It's not whether you get knocked down. It's whether you get back up. - Vince Lombardi

Never stop trying. Never stop believing. Never give up. Your day will come. - Unknown

Everything you've ever wanted is on the other side of fear. - George Addair

Work hard in silence. Let success make the noise. - Unknown

When it gets difficult is often right before you succeed. - Jeffrey Walker

If you want it, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse. - Unknown

Don't try to be perfect. Just try to be better than you were yesterday. - Unknown

Push yourself because no one else is going to do it for you. - Unknown

Strength doesn't come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn't. - Rikki Rogers

We don't develop courage by being happy every day. We develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity. - Barbara De Angelis

When you fear your struggles, your struggles consume you. When you face your struggles, you overcome them. - Unknown

The best way to gain self-confidence is to do what you are afraid to do. - Swati Sharma

Motivational Quotes To Keep Going

Results happen over time, not overnight. Work hard, stay consistent, and be patient. - Unknown

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. - Confucius

Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible. - Francis of Assisi

The struggle you're in today is developing the strength you need for tomorrow. - Unknown

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. - Jim Rohn
You have to be at your strongest when you're feeling at your weakest.
Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. - Winston Churchill
You don't always get what you wish for. But you always get what you work for.
Don't worry about failure; you only have to be right once. - Drew Houston

If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time. - Steve Jobs

Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough. - Og Mandino

You are so much more than what you are going through. - John Tew

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. - Confucius

Passion first and everything will fall into place. - Holly Holm

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did. - Newt Gingrich

Never stop trying. Never stop believing. Never give up. Your day will come. - Unknown
Keep going. Everything you need will come to you at the perfect time.
If you get tired, learn to rest, not quit. - Unknown

Strength is the product of struggle. You must do what others don't to achieve what others wont. - Henry Rollins

Whatever is worrying you right now, forget about it. Take a deep breath, stay positive and know that things will get better. - Unknown

Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do. - Pele
You don't gain anything from stressing. Remember that.
Success is what happens after you have survived all of your disappointments. - Unknown

When you know what you want, and want it bad enough, you'll find a way to get it. - Jim Rohn

Good things come to those who believe. Better things come to those who are patient. The best things come to those who never give up. - Unknown

Believe in yourself, take on your challenges, dig deep within yourself to conquer fears. Never let anyone bring you down. You got to keep going. - Chantal Sutherland

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy. - Dale Carnegie

When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal, you do not change your decision to get there. - Zig Ziglar

Staying positive does not mean that things will turn out okay. Rather it is knowing that you will be okay no matter how things turn out. - Unknown

Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy. - Norman Vincent Peale

When you fear your struggles, your struggles consume you. When you face your struggles, you overcome them. - Unknown

The path to success is to take massive, determined action. - Tony Robbins

Your hardest times often lead to the greatest moments of your life. Keep going. Tough situations build strong people in the end. - Roy T. Bennett

Motivational Quotes For Life
If you feel like giving up, just look back on how far you are already.
Difficult roads always lead to beautiful destinations. - Zig Ziglar

Everything you've ever wanted is on the other side of fear. - George Addair

Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. - Charles R. Swindoll

Keep going. Everything you need will come to you at the perfect time. - Unknown

Success is what comes after you stop making excuses. - Luis Galarza

Success is what happens after you have survived all of your disappointments. - Unknown

When you know what you want, and want it bad enough, you'll find a way to get it. - Jim Rohn

You have to fight through some bad days to earn the best days of your life. - Unknown

Success is simple. Do what's right, the right way, at the right time. - Arnold H. Glasgow

Failure is not the opposite of success. Its part of success. - Unknown

Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. - Joshua Marine

Hard times don't create heroes. It is during the hard times when the 'hero' within us is revealed. - Bob Riley

I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed. - Michael Jordan

Check these out...

Tips On Staying Motivated & Inspired

Life is a long journey and all too often people get caught up in trying to attain something or get somewhere that they forget that the goal is the journey.

You see...

No matter where you are at in life right now, no matter where you are going, the whole point of the "end result" is the journey itself.

It's along this journey that you discover more of who you are.

It's during the process that you learn and grow as a person.

Life is going to be filled with many ups and downs so the best thing to do is buckle up and enjoy the ride.

If you don't know what you want, then you don't know where you are going.

For you to be able to enjoy the journey, you do need a destination in mind so that your desire can pull you in that direction.

And sometimes the best way to know what you want, is by knowing what you don't want.

Never discount learning experiences where you discover that you don't like something. There is great value in this experience because now you know what you don't want.

If you have not done so already, write down five goals or things you would like to accomplish in the next five years.

The best way to figure out what you do want in life is by following your passion and excitement.

All too often this type of message gets lost in New Age rhetoric but it is actually a powerful tool if you strip away all of the "woowoo" from it and keep it this simple:

Every day, you will have many things to choose from. Choose the one that is the most exciting that you can take action on without expectation of what is to come from it and see where it leads you.

When you can no longer take it any further, move on to the next exciting thing.

Your excitement is like a compass needle pointing you in a specific direction that says, "Go this way."

So follow your passion and excitement and see where it leads you.

Life is filled with lots of negativity.

It will be your job to surround yourself with positive energy and people.

And, it will be your job to fill your body with the right foods that keep you feeling healthy and clean.

Your mind and a body is a vessel: what you put in is what you get out.

If you want to live a life filled with joy and passion, fill your mind and body with good things.
Keep going. Everything you need will come to you at the perfect time.
If you don't take the time to stop and smell the roses, life can seem mundane (even though its not).

All too often, people get lost in their day-to-day activities and then life becomes boring or a drag.

Their are no boring situations, just bored minds.

If you stay in a state of gratitude and are thankful for each moment, then you will be in a state where you can attract better things in your life.

You are an antennae that is broadcasting and receiving energy.

Remain in a state of gratitude and you will attract that in your life.

Motivational Articles & Resources
You will never always be motivated. You have to learn to be disciplined. Remember it's just a bad day, not a bad life. Want more positive quotes and phrases? 1. Embrace The Journey 2 Know What You Want 3 Follow Your Excitement 4. Keep A Positive Mind & Healthy Body 5. Practice Gratitude

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Need some motivation to help you achieve your goals? Here is a list of the best positive motivational quotes that will help boost your confidence and uplift your spirit so you believe in yourself, stay positive, keep going, and never give up. Lets face it...