I reconnected with my friend Joel Sisson a few weeks ago.

You may remember that Joel was the founder of The Green Chair Project in the early 1990's. He and I became friends when we partnered on several BIG scale corporate Team Building projects.

He has since moved on to other things. I was reminded when we were together how powerful emotional intelligence is and the contagious/positive impact it has on people. Joel trained hundreds of 'at risk' youth carpentry skills - many of whom credit Joel with helping them make better life choices when they have options.

Living and EQ Life© means giving of ourselves to help others grow.

In what ways do you give of yourself to help others grow? Let me know your story and I will be happy to pass it along.

Three things come to mind immediately when I think about Living an EQ Life©:

1. be present
2. be respectful, and
3. be open.

Let me explain...

Be Present: As you read this note, try to identify all that is happening around you right now; e.g. email pings, TV talking, dog barking, kids screaming, phone ringing, people in and out of the room, laundry washing, thinking about groceries, guests arriving shortly, online homework...it is a never ending barrage of things to do, people to see, places to go. And yet, I have discovered, when I can stop, breathe and focus (be present)...I am a better friend, a better coach, a better facilitator and a better community partner.

Be Respectful: I’ve become hyper-sensitive lately to the lack of civil discourse – for sure in the media, but also in casual conversation. Is there anyone else that thinks talking on a cell phone and ordering a large, skim latte at the same time is rude? How about answering a phone call in the middle of a face-to-face conversation – what is that about? We learned a lot about being respectful in kindergarten…wait your turn, don’t interrupt and always say please and thank you! I wonder if there is a refresher course?

Be Open: Being open to the possibility that we may learn something new or discover that there is always more than one right answer is a gift we can give ourselves. This becomes more difficult as we get older (for a number of physiological reasons). I guess we need to be consciously open about being open!

These are 3 things I believe will contribute to Living an EQ Life©.

I'm curious to know how you are putting emotional intelligence into practice...in other words, how are you Living an EQ life©?