TikTok CEO Mr Chew Shou Zi (CSZ) was like an overnight star after his congressional hearing. There were many praises for how he responded during the hearing. No, I did not sit through the 5 hours but I have watched snippets of the hearing. He was absolutely awesome at answering the questions. I was impressed by how he was able to regulate his emotions so that he could give good answers to the questions. Just watching it, my emotion index (if I may call it) was rising. Yet, CSZ showed no signs of breaking down under the tremendous stress. 5 hours of grilling. I would give him a A+++ for his emotional regulation.
How we respond is a reflection of who we are, and few recognize this.
I was at a talk, and the speaker was talking about how some students’ minds went blank at an examination in spite of having done enough. Reason being, overwhelmed with the stress of exams.
Emotions are normal and there are no good or bad emotions. It is about regulating our emotions so that our executive functioning could be at its best to manage whatever issues we have to face. Experimental studies show that emotions can have a significant effect on the way we think, decide, and solve problems.
I am big on emotional regulation and many of my clients have benefitted from it when they start to use it.
We are all intelligent beings. We are all good at what we are good at. Let me leave you with this…..
“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.” – Viktor E. Frankl