Self-improvement and achieving emotional balance is not an easy task. Although, that search for happiness and greatness is one of the most recurring objectives of society and one that surely many try to find throughout their lives.
For its part, happiness has two faces: an experiential or emotional face and an evaluative or cognitive face. The experiential component consists of “a balance between positive emotions such as elation, happiness, pride and pleasure, and negative emotions such as worry, anger, and sadness,” writes philosopher and scientist Steven Pinker in his book Totem. In defense of illustration (Paidos).
On the other hand, for Hirotaka Takeuchi, a professor at Harvard Business School, the most important thing is to develop habits that have an impact on the brain.
Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka wrote the book The Wise Company in 2019, in which they exhibit six practices that can lead people to self-improvement. Thanks to his important contributions, his ideas were published in Harvard Business School.
Here are some of the recommendations of the book The Wise Company to overcome and find an emotional balance:
The questions that each person should ask
- Experts say that both people and companies must be clear regarding their mission, vision and values. That boils down to:
- Why was he born? (mission).
- What kind of future do you want to create? (vision).
- What do you value the most? (values).
- Making decisions around these questions will change your perspective on life and guide you to where you want to go.
adopt a routine
- Maintaining a daily routine helps to organize thoughts, work and, therefore, becomes a way to achieve goals.
- “In such a turbulent world, routines improve life every day. For example, if you want to stop procrastinating school tasks, giving that activity a space in your day will make you fulfill them”, Takeuchi considers.
- If, on the other hand, the desire is to spend more time with the family, schedules can also be set aside to really do it.
Retrain the brain to think in nuance and unity
- Harvard experts point out that people in the West tend to think in oppositions: “If I’m not successful, I’m a failure”, “If I don’t have a partner, I’m not complete. What they propose is to think regarding nuances and unity”, they argue in the book.
- Another example: “I don’t have a partner, but I’m fine with myself and I pass that on in my family, work and society.”
Read and empathize more
- Harvard Business School suggests that “empathy is an essential ingredient in maintaining healthy relationships.”
- So the ideal is to search on a daily basis and one way to do it is through knowledge. For this reason, Takeuchi recommends going back to reading to open your mind to new ways of seeing the world.
Be inspired by the success of others
- The success of others can be a great source of inspiration.
- Activities like watching the 10 best speeches of all time, TED talks, or motivational programs can teach anyone. In addition, it is an effective and fun way to communicate ideas.
- “Stories become a prism through which humans live. Being able to use metaphors and analogies effectively translates into the ability to persuade and affect change,” says Takeuchi.
Do outdoor activities
- Over the years it has been proven that spending time outdoors gives people energy and helps reduce stress.
- ”For me, seeing is believing, so in every country we go to, we always go out because that’s where you see real life. You see it out in the open,” says the professor.
