Connection before correction

From the Positive Discipline Encouragement card: "Encourage by creating a connection before correction."

I put this into effect last night and it was amazing. I am on a bowling league on Tuesday nights. Eva comes with me and plays with her cousins (my sisters, brother-in-laws, and parents bowl on the same league) while I bowl. We were done bowling and it was time to leave. Eva was not listening to me and didn't want to leave. She walked away from me so I went and picked her up. She started kicking and screaming and just generally freaking out. Then, she hit me. After a moment of shock, I took her to the side and got down on her level and looked her in the eyes and tried to talk to her. But, she was still too upset. So, I told her that we needed to take break to calm down and hug. So, we hugged for a minute. After that moment of connection that allowed both of us to calm down, I was able to correct her behavior. We talked about how hitting is not ok, that it hurts and she apologized to me. We then decided together that if she ever throws a tantrum like that again when it is time to leave the bowling alley, that she would not be able to come with me to the bowling alley the following week. And then we calmly left the bowling alley together.
I had another breakthrough during this tantrum that my child threw. It was the first time that I can remember not worrying about what other people were thinking as I dealt with my child's behavior.
I am a people-pleaser. I avoid conflict. I don't want to make people uncomfortable. I worry about what other people think of me. This has affected my parenting in the past because if my child is acting in a way that I think may make people uncomfortable or make people think I am a bad parent, I get easily stressed out and I handle the behavior in a way that I normally wouldn't and usually regret. But, last night, I simply focused on my child and what needed to happen. She was tired, it was past her bedtime. She was wired from playing with her cousins. Being as tired and wired as she was, she was not able to regulate her emotions and so she lashed out. I needed to help her regulate. Since I wasn't worried about anyone else, I was able to handle the situation in a way that stopped the bad behavior and made my daughter feel better.