EIA Celebrity: The Making of Saul Goodman (Better Call Saul)
Have you been watching AMC’s Better Call Saul? It is basically a prequel to Breaking Bad that dives into the life of Jimmy McGill before he became Saul Goodman. The show is actually a perfect microcosm how how the EIA (Empowering Inspiration & Attraction) gift develops (and goes terribly wrong) in many ways. You actually get a great inside look. This is healthy for the EIA to self-reflect and for those that want to understand how to empathize with the EIA.
EIA: Empowering Inspiration & Attraction
To really learn from this, watch this inside look into the characters of Better Call Saul–especially if you haven’t been watching the show itself.
The most important thing to understand is that every EIA starts with good intentions. The EIA loves connecting with people. They are one of the only two MDNA gifts that are intrinsically motivated solely by relationships (the other being IAF: Intuitive Alignment and Fulfillment). To the EIA, they want to be validated by their intentions as much as results. Nothing wrong with this.
This is, however, where the EIA can go off the rails. Where for some gifts like the DLF (Dominion Leadership & Fulfillment), the end can justify the means, for the EIA, intentions can justify the means and also justify a lack of any results in the end. Sometimes the EIA just does not understand how their methods can burn out social circles. While at the same time, an EIA can be driven so much by the opinions of others, they do very unhealthy things to make the world right–especially when it comes to confrontation.
Now remember, the EIA is intrinsically motivated by a relational heart. Their intentions are always for people. They want everybody to like them which is why we all do.
This is where we root for Jimmy McGill. He is always trying to do all the wrong things for the right reasons. We like him. Everybody does. But he just doesn’t see the reality of the web he is spinning. It all sounds good in “Slippin’ Jimmy’s” head, but to the rest of his social sphere, it’s just a con and they end up holding the pieces after the whirlwind passes.
Chuck McGill- KWR (Knowledgeable Wisdom & Responsibility)
We learn that Chuck is Jimmy’s older brother. The older brother from which Jimmy is desperately trying to win approval. Every EIA (and all other gifts for that matter), needs to take inventory of who they want approval from and why. Chuck is the accomplished lawyer. He does things by the book, and, just like every proper KWR, wants Jimmy to take responsibility for his actions. Chuck also judges his younger sibling because Jimmy got his law degree on the internet. As a KWR, Chuck is very proud of his academic achievements and won’t let Jimmy take that away.
Where Chuck is highly dysfunctional, other than being OCD and a disease called Idiopathic Environmental Intolerance Attributed to Electromagnetic Fields (IEI-EMF), more commonly known as Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS), he is jealous. Chuck is jealous of Jimmy’s charismatic EIA gift. Everybody loves Jimmy. And because of this love everybody seems to enable Jimmy in his well-intentioned-non-reality
For both of the McGill brothers, all this family dysfunction boils down to their father. We learn this in Season 2 episode 5 titled “Rebecca”. This is also fascinating for me in how realistic the issue can be outside of a fictional TV show. But that’s for another time. (Pro tip: Don’t ignore your daddy issues. We all have them.)
And Kimberley Wexler, Jimmy’s love interest in the show? She is an IAF (Intuitive Alignment and Fulfillment). She is always sacrificing herself for the favor of others but has a huge, yet very conflicted, heart for Jimmy. The IAF longs to know other and be known on the deepest levels. Jimmy does that for Kim. All in all, the EIA to KWR combination between Jimmy and Chuck, and the EIA to IAF interaction with Kim Wexler are relationships we can all learn from.
As I have stated before, Jimmy Goodman/Saul Goodman, although a fictional character, is a very real cautionary tale for every EIA.