Juliana said, “At the EQ Workshop I got to know myself. I learned that I need to be more decisive and get better at social skills. I tend to be silent in a group and that comes to some extent from my father who is high control, makes me feel like my opinion doesn’t count and imposes his values on me.” Juliana said she also wants to be able to ask others for help and trust others more. She thinks her root issues are pride and no desire to understand others: she thinks people often seem superficial and so she doesn’t care about what they are saying. In addition she has a fear of rejection and fear of embarrassment both of which contribute to her silence.
What are some qualities Juliana might grow in to go from being silent in a group to moving toward others relationally to listen and engage at a heart level?
Self-regard is a needed EQ skill for Juliana. “Self-regard is about people respecting themselves and accepting both personal strengths and limitations while remaining satisfied and self-secure. Uncertainty in our abilities may translate into decreased performance and lack of self-confidence (p.4, EQ-I 2.0, Copyright © 2011 Multi-Health Systems Inc.).
In her case, Juliana needs more confidence socially to avoid staying silent and to open up and engage in conversation, both speaking up and listening with love – truly wanting to hear what others have to say. Growing in Self-regard will give her the confidence to move toward people rather than withdrawing.
What might help her grow in Self-Regard?
1. Make a list of strengths, what she sees as strengths.
2. List things people have complimented her for as strengths.
For example, if she is strong intellectually, people have said she is smart, she can figure out how to use her thinking skills to analyze her wrong beliefs, discard wrong beliefs and move toward people (ABCDE, The EQ Edge, Stein and Book, p. 36). The question is, are all conversations really superficial or is that an excuse to not listen? Are most of the people in her life not trustworthy? She can make a list of trustworthy friends. Perhaps she can think ahead before a social situation like going to dinner with friends and come up with topics of conversation that she can initiate that she is interested in and for which she has something to contribute that might build relationships and trust and love and/or are fun!
What are some characters qualities that will help her grow in self-regard? Humility, love, kindness and patience with others are all crucial character qualities that will enhance her growth in connecting with others. So, how might she grow in those character qualities? Here are some ideas. Examine and list her beliefs about herself and others. Does she believe she can overcome the negative scripting from her father? Or, does she believe she is a victim? She can list the wrong beliefs she is holding on to. Does she believe her friends have significant things to say when she is with them socially? Does she have a value of being kind to others of being patient when conversations seem superficial?
From Juliana’s story we surfaced five ways to grow in self-regard and confidence.
Refocus on your strengths.
Analyze the negative messages you are carrying. Reject wrong messages
and replace with right messages.
Think ahead to prepare yourself for social interactions.
Focus on character growth
Examine your beliefs: reject and replace wrong beliefs.
By Baron Rush
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dee@theeqworkshop.com and barry@theeqworkshop.com
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