On Monday I had an opportunity to watch one of the best high school baseball games between Hamilton Southeastern Royals (HSE) and Columbus East Olympians for the 4A state championship. During the game, there were intense emotions on display from anticipation, joy, sadness, anger, admiration, disgust and surprise. That was just the first inning!!! As the game went on you could see an emotional explosion from both teams and the crowd.
Emotions impacted the game from the 1st inning when Columbus East hit a triple until the 7th inning when the final run was scored. During the game, there were critical hits, strikeouts, errors, and calls by the empires that triggered emotional explosions.
The final score of the game was 3-2 HSE on a hard hit ball in the bottom of the 7th inning, which resulted in an error by Columbus East and the winning run scored. The players on the HSE team mobbed the hitter and everyone piled on. The winning team experienced joy, excitement, amazement, fatigue and even sadness. On the other hand, the losing team experienced sadness, rage, anger, disgust, surprise, and excitement. Ultimately the team that was able to manage their emotions in that critical moment won the game.
In our daily lives we are faced with critical decisions and we have a range of emotions (joy, anger, sadness, anticipation, annoyance, happiness, grief and serenity) that we have to manage. As human beings, we are wired to feel and to have emotions. Unfortunately, too many of us have become slaves to our emotions instead of controlling and managing them. The goal is not to ignore our emotions but to manage them in those critical moments to create the successful outcomes we desire.
In order to achieve the desired results, we must practice Emotional Intelligence (EQ) daily. The good news is that emotional intelligence can be learned and improved by practicing the tips below.
· Self-awareness:your ability to recognize and understand your emotions and reactions.
· Self-management:your ability to manage, control and adapt your emotions, mood, reactions, and responses.
· Motivation:your ability to harness your emotions to motivate yourself to take appropriate action, to commit, follow-through and work towards the achievement of your goals.
· Empathy:your ability to discern the feelings of others, understand their emotions, and utilize this understanding to relate with others more effectively.
· Social skills:your ability to build relationships, to relate with others in social situations, to lead, negotiate conflict and work as part of a team.
Both HSE and Columbus East practiced daily throughout the year to get to the championship game and to achieve the desired results they want. Are you willing to practice daily to get your desired result?
