Self-Existing Wakefulness

On this auspicious occasion of Lhabab Duchen, I am pleased and honored to share I’ve recently written a book that attempts to distill my life’s journey and insights on the topic of perception and emotion and what within ourselves we each have the power to influence.

As someone who aspires to live up to my own potential for the greater good and benefit of others through the work I’ve chosen to do both professionally and personally, it seemed appropriate to really consider where in our own lives we have personal agency and choice that we can act upon irrespective of context or circumstances.  

Inspired by this question in particular, I’ve spent the last five years with the support and dedicated effort of the Beyond EI team building coaching and training programs to help democratize the application and wisdom of Emotional Intelligence. 

It has been a journey of ups and downs, many wins and some painful losses, but mostly a path of incredible and rewarding learning. The book I’ve written, Beyond Emotional Intelligence: A Guide to Accessing Your Full Potential, which is being released the third week of November by Wiley, approaches the topic of perception and emotion from a scientific, philosophical, and applied lens. The book attempts to synthesize the best of our scientific and applied understanding of what we have the capacity to influence. In other words, where our agency resides and how we can tap into what have to work with real-time to navigate the complexity and richness of what it means to be alive. 

Perception is itself central to everything we think, say, do, learn, repeat, and develop habits around throughout our lives. Every outcome or result we experience has the signature and thread of how we continually perceive and make sense of our moment-to-moment reality mysteriously tucked within it. 

Perception punctuated by our emotions and the sense we make of each are the primary vehicles by which we navigate our lives as conscious, intelligent, and embodied beings. It is therefore fundamental not to mention imperative that we learn how this body and this mind we are each the beneficiary of can work towards our own and others’ benefit. 

To that end, I have done my utmost to write a book that has that objective as its primary aim. But like anything we acquire knowledge about unless we also apply what we’ve learned, we risk diluting any wisdom we may gain unless we put our insight into practice. For that reason, I’ve not only shared the theory and practical implications of the science behind these important topics but have suggested ways in which we can each take personal responsibility to practice what we have the capacity to positively influence; namely our own awareness and conscious sensemaking. 

For those interested in enacting what you have the ability to influence over within each new moment, I hope you’ll enjoy delving into the book and learning to embody the best of who you already are!