How to nurture your “emotional agility” (with Susan David)

How to Be a Better Human

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A key component of our capacity to be healthy is to see yourself as a being in that struggle. How might you do this? I invite you for a moment to just ask yourself, what is the five year old in me need right now? Is that five year old asking to be seen, to be loved, to feel worthy, to have spontaneity and joy? And so when we start bringing this level of compassion to a younger or an older version of ourselves, what it actually starts doing is strengthening the thread between these different versions of ourselves that are really important.

Whether you’re the kind of person who “gets in their feels” or you’re more the type to sweep things under the rug, all humans experience emotions. And the way we tend to those emotions directly affects the way we see our lives, says today’s guest, Susan David. She is a psychologist and author of the book “Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life” (Avery, 2016). In today’s episode, Susan explains how “emotional agility”--a process that enables us to navigate life's twists and turns--, powers self-acceptance, and gives tips on how to cultivate our agility to lead more meaningful, successful lives. You can hear more from Susan on her TED Audio Collective podcast “Checking In with Susan David” streaming wherever you are listening to this. To learn more about "How to Be a Better Human," host Chris Duffy, or find footnotes and additional resources, please visit: go.ted.com/betterhuman