on the edge

“People usually fail when they are on the verge of success. So give as much care to the end as to the beginning.” – Lao-Tzu

Verge of success? The verge- the brink, the threshold, the edge?

Edge per Merriam Webster:  c (1)   : a point near the beginning or the end; especially   : brink, verge <on the edge of disaster> (2)   : the threshold of danger or ruin <living on the edge>

Lady Gaga wrote about her grandfather and what he taught her about living life “on the edge” in Out on the Edge of Glory  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xD4ICwgZiBs

Have you noticed that we want to give up, right before we are going to succeed? It’s “darkest before the dawn”, as the old saying goes. In our darkest hour, we are closer to dawn than ever. There is always a beginning and an ending. Lao is making the point that starting with high hopes and strong effort is equally important to ending on that note. If we give up, right before we are going to see the fruits of our efforts- we have come to the edge and fallen backwards. If we are at the edge or verge or cusp of success, the only way to proceed is “full speed ahead” . Go forward with the same sense of confidence you started with and the good ending you expected- will arrive.

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to make your emotions work for you by using them in ways that produce the results you want.  According to Dr. Hendrie Weisinger, and the original work of John Mayer, EI is an untapped edge to success. EI derives from 4 basic elements used like building blocks – 1. The ability to accurately perceive, appraise and express emotion 2. The ability to access or generate feelings on demand when they can facilitate understanding of yourself or another person 3. The ability to understand emotions and the knowledge that derives from them  4. The ability to regulate emotions to promote emotional and intellectual growth.

I believe the last block #4 requires a foundation of the former #1-3. Think about it. If we are capable of “regulating” our emotions, we can ride the tide as we come to the “brink of disaster or success”. We can avoid overreacting or underperforming based on unbridled emotions. We can restrain and control these strong currents for our own benefit. Wow! I like the way Dr. Weisinger states that EI can turn “setbacks” into “comebacks”.  We can transform ourselves- by choice. Overall general intelligence is set, but our emotional intelligence can be developed.

Grow, Change, Evolve

Live on the edge

Push over

Catch a glimpse of “the other side”.