EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE by Isiekwe Nneka

We all have emotions, and suffice me to say, but anyone without emotions is dead.

What is Emotion?

Emotion is a person’s internal state of being, it deals with how and what you feel on the inside. It is also the physiological response to an object or a situation.

Example of emotions: love, hatred, joy, sadness, anger, happiness etc.

What is Intelligence?

Intelligence is the capacity of a mind, especially to understand principles, truths, facts or meanings, acquire knowledge, and apply it to practice. Simply put it is the ability to learn and comprehend and then apply the knowledge gained.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE is the ability to comprehend or understand why we feel what we feel on the inside. This deals with issues such as understanding others, our relationships with other people as well as our ability to adapt and cope with our immediate surroundings and ourselves.

Emotional intelligence deals with inter and intrapersonal skills.

Interpersonal skills: this generally talks about our people skills, how well we can handle people, how we treat people, how we handle the various situations we find ourselves.

Intrapersonal skills: this examines the relationship we have with ourselves, the interaction that goes on within us, the conversations we share within ourselves. Having good interpersonal skills is highly needed, because poor intrapersonal skills results to bad interpersonal skills, which in turn leads to bad output, which in turn causes bad attitude, which ultimately leads to no success.

A person who is emotionally intelligent 

·         Self aware
·         Self regulated
·         Motivated
·         Empathy
·         Social skills

Self-Awareness: This is the ability to recognize and understand your moods, emotions and drives as well as others. Self-awareness helps you to be realistic, confident and enables you set achievable goals.

Self-Regulated: The ability to control or redirect disruptive impulses and moods. It is the uncanny ability to think before acting. A self-regulated person is trustworthy and has self-control.

Motivated: This is the propensity to pursue dreams and goals with energy, without relenting. A motivated person is committed, has strong drive to achieve, is result oriented and success driven. He or she possess a never give up spirit.

Empathy: the ability to understand the emotional makeup of other people. It is the ability to treat people according to their emotional reaction. An empathetic person is service oriented, sensitive, is able to discern feelings, can listen and understand, is able to build and retain talents.

Social skill: to ascertain that one possesses a good social skill, the person must possess all four of the listed traits; he/she must be: self-aware, self-regulated, motivated and empathetic. Good social skill is the bedrock for good success.

THE SOCIAL MEDIA IN THE 21ST CENTURY by Ibrahim Solomon

Social media is the interaction among people in which they share or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks. Geocities created in 1994 was one of the first social media sites, the concept was for users to create their own websites but by 2014, social media has taken up a life of its and its integral to daily life and productivity.

Social media take on many forms including internet forums, wikis, social networks, video, ratings, pictures and photographs. However, technologies of social media include blogging, music sharing, wall- posts etc. Blogs and microblogs such as the widespread twitter, WordPress, Blogger to content communities like YouTube including core social media networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace ,Bebo, Orkut, Zorpia, the Virtual game world such as World of Warcraft and not excluding the popular Virtual social world, second life are excellent examples of social media sites and its influence.

STATISTICS OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE

•  Consumers spend more time on social networks than on other sites
•  Facebook remains the most visited social network; in the USA 152.2 million visitors via PC, 78.4million via mobile app, 74.3million visitors via mobile web 
• 51% of people age 25-34 use social networks in the office
•  Over 70 languages on Facebook and average time usage is 20 minutes.
•  1.19 billion people in the world use social networks
•  In Nigeria 6,630,200 people use social networks and Nigeria is ranked 32nd in the world with penetration of 3.9%.

USING SOCIAL NETWORKS TO BOOST YOUR CAREER

 The year 2012 was a great year for the social media in business and the job market. However, 92%  of companies use social networks to hire, 89% have made a hire through LinkedIn, 26% through Facebook and 15% through twitter.

TIPS ON USING SOCIAL NETWORK TO BOOST YOUR BUSINESS

• Create a social network page eg   facebook page or a twitter account
• Describe your business and give information concerning it.
• Share your page, blog or information
• Post news
• Update it

THE DO’S AND DON'TS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

The Do's:

      -  Create a personal brand

      -  Content and packaging

      -   Use professional photo

      -   Add your experience(s)

      -   Create a headline that sells

      -   Create a key rich summary

      -   Get recommendation(s)

The Don’ts

      -  Don’t lie on social media
      -  Make sure your information is error free.
      -  Don't post anything that might offend someone else
      - Don't join groups that make you sound irresponsible 

         or anti-establishment
     - Don't become obsessed with social media

THE ADVANTAGES OF SOCIAL MEDIA

      -  Opportunity to learn and share

      -  Develop and maintain global connections i.e. friendship

      -   Ability to be known and found

      -  Social media for news purpose e.g.  CNN, STV, BBC, CHANNELS etc

THE DISADVANTAGES OF SOCIAL MEDIA

      -  Exposure to images such as sexual behavior, alcohols and
       pornography to children

In conclusion, the social media has been used in order to promote marketing research, communication, sales and relationship development.

ETIQUETTE AND SOCIAL GRACES for Teenagers by Anita Jakpor

The Project Impact One train stopped at the New Era Secondary School, Surulere and it was a day of learning and laughter. Anita Jakpor, our chief facilitator gave a riveting training session about social graces and etiquette to the wonderful teenage girls in SS2 and SS3. Here is an overview of the simple gems of knowledge she taught them. Please invite your teenage sister, child or friend to have an informative read but who am I kidding, everyone needs to read this.

Definition of Etiquette

Etiquette is a customary way of polite behavior in society or among members of a group. It includes the manner of dressing, social interaction and public conduct.

Why is Etiquette Important?

- It sets standards for how to be polite to one another, and how to interact. Without it, everyone might be rude instead.

- It shows respect and consideration for others, and makes all social interaction more pleasant for all concerned.

- It makes people take you more seriously through their lives, especially in their careers and relationships.

- It distinguishes you as a teen from the crowd in a positive way.

The 'GOLDEN RULE' or acting toward people as you would like them to act toward you is a significant part of good manners. When a teen is polite to another person, it is likely that the other person will be polite in return. You earn the respect of your peers, younger children and of adults. Being polite can indicate that more good things will happen to a teenager.

For instance, a teen has the habit of writing 'Thank You' notes to people for gifts or favors is more likely to continue to receive gifts, because the givers feel appreciated.

You can show Etiquette at home, in the school, to adults, during social interactions, playtime and in every aspect of your social interactions.

What are Social Graces?

Social graces are skills used during interactions and are usually polite in nature. They include manners, etiquette, fashion etc.

Let's always try to portray a good image of ourselves, avoid 'Toxic Traits' and interact with people at all levels.

Etiquette Quotes;

- 'A man's manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait'.

- 'Good manners sometimes means simply putting up with other people's bad manners'

- 'It takes two to Tango'.

“Etiquette is the science of living. It embraces everything. It is ethics.”

Self-Awareness by Anita Jakpor

What is Self-Awareness?

Self-awareness is a conscious knowledge and perception of one's own behavior, emotions, motives, beliefs, desires, strengths and weaknesses. Self-awareness is knowing almost in totality your personality and be open to know more about yourself.

Self-awareness gives us knowledge of;

OUR S.W.O.T                                

S - Strength is a good or beneficial quality or attribute of a person. It is an area of interest.

W - Weakness is a disadvantage or fault, inability to resist something or an area of lower interest.

O - Opportunity is a time or set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.

T - Threat is an indication of something dangerous or unpleasant, causing harm or failure.

OUR CORE VALUES AND BELIEFS

Core values are principles and fundamental beliefs of a person guiding behavior and actions. It helps people to know what is right from wrong.

Examples are; Integrity, peace, empathy, diligence, resilience, respect, honesty etc.

SELF CONFIDENCE

Self-confidence is a feeling of trust in one's abilities, qualities and judgment. It is an attitude which allows individuals to have positive yet unrealistic views of themselves and their situations. Self-confidence helps us evaluate our worth, gives us a sense of control of our lives and builds our self-esteem.

WHAT IGNITES OUR EMOTIONS?

When we are conscious of who we are, we are able to identify those things that stirs up our emotions (negative/positive), our feelings, passions, interests and generally our actions.

OUR DECISION MAKING PATTERN

Knowing your decision making style helps to quicken our decision making process, because we've already done a SWOT analysis and know our key performance indicators. You are aware of what influences your decisions and their consequences.

How to Achieve Self-Awareness

REFLECTIONS AND QUIET TIME

Reflection is a serious thought or consideration about oneself and one's actions. A quiet time is a session of private meditation. Regularly engaging in reflections and quiet time helps us identify who we really are, judging from what we do.

KEEPING A JOURNAL

A journal is a diary giving an account of each day’s activities for evaluation and record purposes.

OBTAIN FEEDBACK

Ask people close to you and people that you've interact with at various times in your life, what they think about you and areas you can improve on.

REGULAR SELF-EVALUATION

This involves identifying your activities, trying to match them with what actions you really intend to exhibit, acknowledge you areas of well doing and try to work on the areas you didn't do well.

Conclusively, knowing who you are is the best pathway to live a happy and successful life, because you are guided at every point.

Remember this; your thought affects your belief and personality.

THOUGHTS . WORDS . ACTIONS . HABITS . CHARACTER . DESTINY