Having had the time to look back on the previous year, I’ve really paid attention to what I’m taking away from it. Yes, more experience(s), more knowledge, more work, more relationships, but the learnings – those things that I can apply moving forward – are the things that are going to help me this year and beyond, in everything that I am and do.

In addition to the two that I have previously mentioned (here) and (here), here’s another thing I’ve taken away:

Be human, but balance emotion.

As humans, we are filled with emotion. Emotion can be a wonderful thing, something to be used to everyone’s advantage, and it can also be a bad thing, particularly when important decisions need to be made. And aren’t all decisions important?

I’m a big proponent of being real with people. With your staff, with your team, with your boss, with your clients, with yourself. People need to see the real you. They need to see you happy and sad and upset. These are very real emotions and to me, it’s natural to be real.

But it has to be kept in check. It can’t be too much of any extreme. In any and all times, you have to be in control of those emotions. This is probably most important – yes, be real, but be in control. Even if you don’t know how to handle the situation(s) and/or are overwhelmed. Most especially, when decisions need to be made.

In any given day, we have to make thousands of decisions, all of which have an impact on something (or someone) greater than ourselves. They’re flying at us left and right. To make any of those decisions based on the (high) emotions that we are experiencing at any given moment is an easy thing to do. But it clouds our rational and it could have a negative (and drastic) impact on everything and everyone around us.

Emotion can be dangerous when decisions need to be made. So, you have to learn how to balance this. And that is something that everyone has to learn to do in their own way.