Joshua Freedman
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How Do I Control Emotions Better?

How Do I Control Emotions Better?

It’s one of the most frequent questions in emotional intelligence workshops worldwide. How can I get better at controlling my feelings? The language of this question reveals a bias that there are bad emotions requiring control – which means exerting power to subdue. Here’s a simply radical shift in perspective: How can I get better at harnessing […]

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Daniel Goleman on the Dalai Lama’s Vision for Good

Daniel Goleman on the Dalai Lama’s Vision for Good

“Real change will take place when individuals transform themselves guided by the values that lie at the core of all human ethical systems, scientific findings, and common sense.” –the Dalai Lama If you could encourage people to make just one small change to transform the world, what would you ask them to do?  Daniel Goleman […]

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Where is Your Attention Focused?

Where is Your Attention Focused?

When I was at university in Toronto, I found out that riding a bike in a city with streetcars presents a very special challenge. I’m riding along and, for the first time, come to a street with tracks; they’re embedded in the road, just a little metal channel… the perfect size to cause big problems […]

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Assessing Trust

Assessing Trust

Want more clarity about how much you trust someone? Try these 3 techniques for assessing trust in a relationship.

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Three Traps for Teaching EQ, Especially for Teens

Three Traps for Teaching EQ, Especially for Teens

Recently a student told me that she dreads the “SEL” class in her school because, “the teacher is so fake.” There are three key traps that lead to this kind of failure in social emotional learning, and some simple-but-challenging solutions to find a balance in inquiry, planning, and power.

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The Seduction of Impossibility

The Seduction of Impossibility

Four years ago, I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t even put my socks on. Yesterday, I went for a run — without someone chasing me… I actually chose it. As we think about change, rather than focusing on an “easy step,” there’s something incredibly powerful about embracing the impossible, and harvesting the emotional energy to fuel the next steps.

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Where Do You Want The Ball To Go?

Where Do You Want The Ball To Go?

I’ve noticed something intriguing – if you have no idea what result you want, you’re unlikely to get it. My skills at pool/billiards are terrible, but I still can plan ahead and think about how I’m going to whack the cue ball to get a particular result. Isn’t this true of all of our interactions? If we decide “where we want the ball to go” in our meetings, conversations, interactions… then it’s much more probably we can make that happen.

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The Way You Are

The Way You Are

Is there a way to be unconditionally loving, and also to hold high expectations? As parents, can we love our kids “as they are” AND help them be better?

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From Violent Hearts to Heavenly Peace

From Violent Hearts to Heavenly Peace

Reading reactions to Sandy Hook, a common theme is blame, but is there an alternative? Looking at the neuroscience, it feels better to blame. When we blame, we know the answer, and that feeling of righteous wrath is actually a dopamine reward that our brain emits when we “know.” While this reaction cycle is wired into our brains, we do have a choice — three, in fact.

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Beneath the Surface

Beneath the Surface

Are we more interested in the appearance of the thing, or the thing itself? There is a seduction of the surface. It’s easy to see. It’s easy to put in a photo. It’s easy to say, “We’re doing it right.” It’s just plain easier. As stress levels rise and we are too busy even to be busy, we skim. The surface is faster. Depth takes reflection. It takes ambiguity and curiosity and the effort of turning the wheel firmly enough to leap out of the deeply worn ruts in the roads of our minds.

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Feel the Power: Flexing EQ

Feel the Power: Flexing EQ

The use of power is central to our interactions as leaders, coaches, parents, and change agents. To be more effective, emotional intelligence will help us understand and tune up our own use of power and the ways people react to that. There are dozens, maybe hundreds, of different forms of power. All of these “work” in some sense. If they generate certain desired there are “benefits.” At the same time, each produces unwanted side effects, called “costs.” What are some of the forms of power that you have, and that you exercise? What happens when you exercise these different forms of power? What price do you pay for each such use?

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What, How, Why: Transforming with EQ

What, How, Why: Transforming with EQ

If we don’t shift gears, we are choosing global devastation — socially, environmentally, economically — and while millions of people are working to make things better, humanity is still finding it incredibly difficult to change the game to a sustainable, prosperous, and joyful future.  At Six Seconds we’ve found incredibly powerful methods of catalyzing positive […]

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Physiology of Emotion, Exercise, and Change

Physiology of Emotion, Exercise, and Change

I was recently talking to a group about the fact that we can choose how we feel. “But didn’t you say emotions are an automatic biological response?”   Yes, in fact, I did… but don’t we have choice about our biology?  I remember years ago interviewing neurobiologist Debra Niehoff about the way some people seemed […]

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Turning New Corners

Turning New Corners

Life is full of these moments of transition, of uncertainty and discovery.  People coming and going, growing up, moving away, coming back… waves on the sand, life seems to be continuously in flux, and you just can’t hold it still. Yesterday I delivered Emma to her first sleep-away summer camp; she’ll be there for three […]

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Case Study: EQ in the Navy and Marine Corps

Case Study: EQ in the Navy and Marine Corps

In an 18-month project to equip leaders with new insights and tools for the people-side of change, this initiative created a 43% increase in participants’ readiness to cope with the complexities of organizational transformation. Background: The US military continues to undergo significant change to address the changing global context. Just as many companies face the […]

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Exercise or Die?  Emotional Intelligence and Health

Exercise or Die? Emotional Intelligence and Health

For the past 20 years, my most rigorous exercise has been carrying my laptop around the world. Still, when I went to the doctor for a checkup (finally), I was surprised and dismayed by my blood pressure.  [This article was first published 12/21/2005 — the good news:  I’ve come to like exercise!] Over the years […]

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