I have always taken great solace in watching toddlers navigate their world. Their bodies and minds are on hyperdrive to absorb information, knowledge and skills from their experience in the moment. There is a purity to their curiosity and their authenticity.

It's something I remember when I am feeling particularly overwhelmed. I ask myself: how can I emulate the in-the-moment presentness of a toddler.

On a different related subject, after 40 years of studying 1000 New Zealanders, psychologists Terrie Moffitt and Avshalom Caspi found that the biggest factor in raising happy and successful children is their emotional intelligence.

"Psychologist Daniel Goleman, often referred to as the godfather of emotional intelligence for his role in popularizing the concept, summed up the findings in a recent keynote: "What they found was that in their 30s, the strongest predictor of financial success was cognitive control, stronger than IQ and stronger than the wealth of the family they grew up in. So how well you do in your life depends on your levels of cognitive control.”

Interestingly enough, emotional intelligence is not a trait, it's a skill.

It’s the ability to understand and, if necessary, override your feelings and impulses. There’s an incredible amount of science to show emotional intelligence impacts not just how successful kids are later in life, but how we all do in life.

Something to remember as we navigate a chaotic cultural and political landscape. 

Resources: https://entrylevelrebel.medium.com/scientists-tracked-1-000-kids-for-40-years-this-was-the-1-predictor-of-financial-success-28b494237518

https://www.science.org/content/article/two-psychologists-followed-1000-new-zealanders-decades-here-s-what-they-found-about-how