Resilience, self-awareness, and authenticity.

They all take practice.

Here's how.

I'm Maura Arons-Mili, and this is the anxious achiever, the show that looks at the intersection of mental health and work, and asks, how can we do both better?

A common therapy phrase you've probably heard, even if you've never been to therapy,

and if you haven't been, you should go, is doing the work. It's a simple

idea, but when you boil it down, what does it really mean? And how hard is doing the work?

Sometimes it's hard, and sometimes it's not so hard. And really, doing the work is about

practicing. It's about stretching beyond your

normal behavior patterns. It's about becoming more aware. And yeah, sometimes it's about sitting in

discomfort or facing things you'd really rather not face. Today's guest looks at mental health and emotional intelligence as related,

and also as skills that can be developed with the right exercise regimen. Emily Anhalt is a

clinical psychologist, author, and co-founder of COA, the gym for mental health. And she argues

that being more resilient isn't about never

feeling anxious or depressed, but it's about being better equipped to handle those moments,

just like we need to run several times a week to prepare for a marathon or do those reps in the

gym. So too should we be training our emotions to withstand those big, tough moments and to get strong enough to be ready for them.

Anhalt wrote the new book, Flex Your Feelings, Train Your Brain to Develop the Seven Traits of Emotional Fitness.

And she joins me to talk about the exercises that will help you too.

You know the answer to this.

I think my listeners know the answer to this, but I'm going to ask you anyway.

Why is emotional intelligence so important for leadership?

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