The Power of Equilibrium Thinking

ENHANCE EQ, SQ AND PQ THROUGH EQUILIBRIUM THINKING:
THE SIMPLEST BUT MOST EFFECTIVE METHOD EVER DISCOVERED

“Wars begin in the minds of men” – UN Charter.

Crimes, disorder and disease also begin in the minds of men. To address crime, disorder and disease effectively one has to start with the human mind.

Equilibrium is a dynamic state of mind affecting spirit, mind and body, seeking and finding congruencies between the three, moving from a lower equilibrium to a higher one. Only when a man exists simultaneously on the spiritual, mental-emotional and physical planes, can we say he is living or else he is merely surviving. Equilibrium thinking is a simple, effective way of connecting and finding congruencies between the spirit, mind and body on a continual basis. It is an alternative holistic therapy

Essentially, you are what you are because of your strengths, you are not what you ought to be because of your limitations. Self realization or fulfillment or self actualization is the two-way process of expanding strengths and overcoming barriers or limitations.

Today we are living in an age of constant change. There are changes in technology, changes in the environment, changes in values. But we are unable to change ourselves. We may be dissatisfied with our own inner environment. But we are unable to adjust and change our inner environment to suit the external environment. This leads to a lot of stress and burn out. That is why, we find even very young executives in the corporate world suffering from various psychosomatic diseases and symptomised by blood pressure, diabetes and the like at a very early age. The lack of response to change leads to these symptoms. But how do we tackle this problem of stress? It can be tackled only by delving deep within oneself.

There is an ATM or Any Time Motivation within every human being. But, like one needs a PIN number to access an ATM to draw one's money, one needs to know the code by which one can access the ATM within, access the motivation within, the power within, the unlimited power within by which one is able to change oneself, so that we are successful, so that we are happy, healthy and lead fulfilled lives and that code is what I have discovered in this expression which is “Be at it to beat it”.

‘Be at it to beat it’ is like a formula for success, happiness and fulfillment. Simple as it sounds, it conveys a very deep meaning and it has multiple levels of meaning.

The first level of meaning is that one needs to persist in anything one does in order to be highly successful and enable us to achieve what we are aiming at. That is one has to keep trying till one achieves the target. Because with every effort, the quality would improve and we would ultimately be able to hit the bull’s eye. Any person who has been successful in any field has consciously or unconsciously worked on this principle.

The second level of meaning is that one has to “be positive, beat negative”. The first half ‘Be at it’ means “be positive” and the second half ‘Beat it’ means “beat negative”. In fact, one may become successful, but due to a certain weakness within our nature, the success itself will only act as a platform to project our negatives. As it is found in the case of many powerful people who reach high office or attain success but due to a certain personal failing, that office itself is disgraced.

So there is a need for us to first do a SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat) analysis of strengths and weaknesses, a balance sheet of our assets and liabilities and based on that one has to use this formula ‘be at it to beat it’ and discover a simple way to access the ATM within us. Another figure of speech is that there are wells of wellbeing within us. In order to access water in a well, one needs a rope, a pulley and a bucket. The bucket is used to fill water and use the water, empty it and again take a refill. Similarly, the ‘be at it to beat it’ acts like a rope and a pulley and bucket to draw wellness from within us. At first we say loudly ‘be calm, beat anger’, ‘be calm, beat tension’. Now every time one repeats these commands within one’s mind, he may tend to access the ATM.

For example, by employing the method of auto-command, if we constantly give commands like ‘Be affectionate and avoid hatred’, ‘Be patient and avoid tension’, one can experience tranquility, love and patience. There are any numbers of commands which an individual can use appropriate to his need and situation:-
'Be calm, beat anger', 'Be loving, beat hatred',
'Be gentle, beat harshness', 'Be punctual, beat unpunctuality',
'Be humble, beat pride', 'Be hardworking, beat laziness',
'Be determined, beat lethargy', ‘Be courageous, beat fear’
‘Be bold, beat nervousness’, ‘Be relaxed, beat tension’

Only 100 seconds would be required to give commands to our mind 10 times a day. One can give these commands in any situation - while attending some work or talking with others.

Now about the way to practice it: There are three methods to practice it.

First method is, we can co-ordinate it with our binary breathing, just like our thinking in the sub-conscious level is binary, breathing is also binary. We breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon-dioxide. So, when we breathe in, we can co-ordinate with the command ‘be positive’. So if you are working on anger, we say ‘be calm’, which means breathing in calmness. When we are breathing out, we say ‘beat anger’, which means breathing out anger.

The second method of practicing equilibrium thinking is the visual method. When we say ‘be calm’ we visualize ourselves being calm, when we say ‘beat anger’, we visualize ourselves beating anger even in a provocative situation.

The third method is the auditory method of practicing equilibrium thinking, in which one constantly repeats within oneself even silently, so that one hears in the inner ear the sounds ‘be calm, beat anger’. Each of these methods can be practiced singly or in combination depending on one's inclination and the situation.

Members of the younger generation who desire to enhance their personality and strengthen their character to take on life’s challenges would find Equilibrium Thinking particularly interesting, relevant and as thrilling as “any voyage of discovery can be.”

BENEFITS of Higher EQ: EQ is said to be a better predictor of success than IQ. EQ is a measure of Emotional Intelligence and it can be improved over time. As Daniel Goleman, who popularized the concept of Emotional Intelligence puts it. “The process is not easy. It takes time and most of all commitment. But the benefits that come from having a well developed Emotional Intelligence both for an individual and an organization, make it worth the effort.” The regular and systematic practice of emotional regulation automatically enhances EQ.

Mayer and Salovey, the first to define emotional intelligence say that it is “the ability to monitor one’s own and other’s feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and action. “Not satisfied with the import of this definition, they later described EI as: “EI involves the ability to perceive accurately, appraise, and express emotion; the ability to access and / or generate feelings when they facilitate thought; the ability to understand emotion and emotional knowledge; and the ability to regulate emotions to promote emotional growth”. In short, EI is the ability to manage one’s emotions proactively. According to Goleman EI consists of five components namely, self awareness or knowing our emotions, self regulation or managing our emotions, self motivation or motivating ourselves, other-awareness or recognizing emotions in others (empathy) and handling others or relationship skills. The first three components relate to personal competence while the later two fall under Social competence. Self-Awareness has three dimensions: emotional awareness, awareness of strengths and weakness and self-confidence. Self-Regulation has five dimensions: self control, trustworthiness, conscientiousness, adaptability, stress management and innovation. Motivation includes the achievement drive, commitment, initiative, time management and optimism. Empathy has five dimensions: Understanding Others, Developing Others, Service Orientation, Managing Diversity and Political Awareness. Social Skills comprise of Influence, Communication, Conflict Management and Leadership, Change Catalyst, Building Bonds, Collaboration and Cooperation and Team Capabilities.

IQ or cognitive intelligence is about capabilities, EQ is about copabilities. Copabilities implies how to cope with various situations, various stimuli, how to cope with and solve with problems, how to deal with stress how to stay focused how to cope with relationships and with loneliness. IQ remains more or less constant from the age of18 but EQ changes with age and experience. EQ is the product of heredity or genetic conditioning, upbringing and environmental conditioning. The amygdala and the prefrontal lobes of the human brain are the seat of EQ while the neocortex and the limbic structures are the seat of IQ.

Enhancing EQ enables people everywhere to further their personal and professional effectiveness and fulfillment. It will equip them to lower stress, motivate themselves
Prateep V. Philip