It's easy to get trapped by our difficult thoughts, feelings, and emotions, so one of the most powerful skills we can learn is Emotional Agility: the ability to navigate our complex emotions, disentangle from old stories, make choices aligned with our values, and ultimately lead more authentic and fulfilling lives.

On this episode of Being Well, ‪@RickHanson‬ and I sit down with Dr. Susan David, the creator of the concept of Emotional Agility. We begin by discussing the four parts of emotional agility and distinguishing it from related concepts like emotional intelligence before exploring how we can “unhook” from our painful or problematic thoughts, feelings, and stories. We then explore how we can identify what really matters to us, act from those values, and find our footing in an everchanging world.

About our Guest: Susan David, Ph.D. is an awardwinning Harvard Medical School psychologist and the author of the #1 Bestseller Emotional Agility. She is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal, and her TED Talk on the topic of emotional agility has been seen by more than 10 million people.

Key Topics:
0:00 Introduction
1:45 Distinguishing emotional agility from emotional intelligence
5:00 The four parts of emotional agility
10:45 The value of seeing yourself and feeling seen by others
17:00 Continuity of self, and considering your future self
22:40 Ways to recognize our unhelpful patterns or ‘hooks’
27:50 Maintaining context for the full scope of our values
33:15 Defining the concept of values
36:15 Learning from discomfort, boredom, and anxiety
41:10 When you struggle to identify your values in the first place
46:55 Compassion and groundedness amidst constant change
54:00 Accurately labeling your stressors
59:55 Love and the wisdom in surrender
1:01:25 Recap

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Who Am I: I'm Forrest, the coauthor of Resilient (https://amzn.to/3iXLerD) and host of the Being Well Podcast (https://apple.co/38ufGG0). I'm making videos focused on simplifying psychology, mental health, and personal growth.

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https://www.forresthanson.com
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