Eight Ways to Improve Emotional Intelligence

August 10, 2021

Table of Contents

Emotional Intelligence: Eight Ways to Improve it

Practice in the actual world is the best approach to strengthen your emotional skills. You may alter your behavior and become more effective in identifying and controlling your own and others’ emotions by practising and receiving feedback on your performance, preferably from an experienced coach.

There are parts of everyone’s lives that can be improved. Here are a few ways you may improve your emotional intelligence and start making a difference in your situation. Although each of the abilities can benefit you in some manner, depending on your current position, you may find that some skills are more significant than others. How to improve Emotional Intelligence?

Increase your self-awareness.

Self-awareness is one of the most important aspects of emotional intelligence. In many ways, this region serves as the foundation for all of the others. For example, in order to be aware of others’ emotions, you must first be conscious of your own.

Various forms of meditation or mindfulness can help you become more aware of your emotions. You can utilize these strategies to become more aware of your body, feelings, and thoughts by enrolling in a course, joining a group, or hiring an instructor.

Using your notebook to record your feelings at various fixed intervals might also help you become more self-aware. Pay attention to the intensity of your feelings in addition to explaining them. On a scale of one to ten, rate your feelings. The better you understand your emotions, the easier it will be to control and adjust them.

Describe your feelings, thoughts, and beliefs.

Knowing how to articulate your emotions can help you manage them more effectively. You can, of course, keep everything to yourself and refuse to communicate your true feelings, thoughts, or opinions with anyone. However, not only is this technique difficult to implement, but it also leads to an extremely lonely existence. Nobody really gets to know you, and you don’t really get to know anyone else. Everyone wants to develop close relationships with a few people they can trust.

You can, on the other hand, choose to broadcast your innermost thoughts, feelings, and beliefs to the entire world. This strategy can also backfire. To begin with, some people are uninterested in your thoughts and feelings. Second, others may be offended or angered by your disclosures.

Aim for assertiveness, which is a happy medium. The right sharing of thoughts, feelings, and views is what assertiveness is all about. Basically, you need to let the correct people know where you stand at the right moment.

Find out what makes you tick.

Everyone goes about their business as usual from day to day, doing what they have to do. But how many people are truly enthusiastic about their work? Many people believe they are stuck in a rut at work. Someone did not, however, miraculously pick them up and position them where they are. People usually end up doing the type of employment that they do by following opportunities or money.

Few people seek to pursue work that they are passionate about. Most people have a profound desire for some type of work, activity, or hobby, but it isn’t always easy to find. You may know some hungry artists who refuse to work conventional jobs in order to pursue their passions. You might not be able to locate work that you enjoy right away, but with the correct amount of planning, you can.

Understand your advantages and disadvantages.

Some people appear to believe that they are competent in all areas. Others consistently undervalue their abilities. Of course, the ideal situation is to be fully aware of your strengths and flaws. Knowing oneself can assist you in making life decisions. You can, for example, acquire more of what you want out of life by focusing on your skills.

Pursuing your interests and talents, such as science, music, art, writing, public speaking, woodworking, or gardening, allows you to live a more rich and fulfilling life. You tend to hold yourself back from getting the most out of life by over-focusing on areas of weakness, unless they interfere with your life.

When making decisions, you may receive messages that appear to originate from your gut. Certain options make you feel fantastic, while others make you feel nauseous. These feelings could be seen as messages from your heart rather than your mind. People are frequently guided by emotional knowledge that they may or may not be aware of.

Take the other person’s moccasins and walk in them.

Empathy is a highly potent feeling. Empathy is a quality shared by the most successful politicians (such as Bill Clinton), philanthropists (such as Princess Diana), media personalities (such as Oprah), and community and corporate leaders.

Increased empathy can help you connect with others, gain their support when you need it, and defuse potentially explosive situations. You gain respect from another individual by demonstrating that you truly comprehend his point of view. You show that you aren’t self-centered, for example. Start by paying greater attention to other people to become more empathic. When speaking with someone, pay attention to what they’re saying. Pay attention to what she says as well as what she wants you to hear. You become more empathic as you improve your ability to detect and pay attention to what people are truly trying to communicate.

Control someone else’s emotions

You have an excellent skill if you can manage the emotions of those around you. You’ve probably encountered leaders who can soothe or reassure an enraged audience. On the other side, you’ve most likely witnessed how some people mismanage other people’s emotions. Consider how many times a poorly prepared CEO of a corporation has had to address the media during a crisis. These leaders irritated or offended those observing them by employing the improper body language, using the wrong tone of voice, or dodging answers to queries.

Managing the emotions of others is a two-step procedure. Simply follow the steps below:

Improve your ability to empathise:

You must put yourself in the shoes of the other person and feel his sorrow, joy, hopes, and anxieties. One method is to ask individuals questions. By asking questions and watching, you can learn as much as possible. Is he interested in sports or physical activity? Which teams and activities do he enjoy the most? What kinds of foods does she eat? What makes her happy or unhappy?

Respond to him the way you’d like someone to respond to you if you were in agony.

Managing the emotions of others necessitates a certain level of expertise. You must first decide where you want to go the other individual. For example, do you want to make someone cheerful, peaceful, vigilant, or aware? After you’ve decided how you want her to feel, you’ll need to figure out how to get her there.

Consider the last time you heard an inspiring speaker or saw a film that impacted you deeply. A build-up is generally included in memorable encounters, in which the speaker or director sets the tone for where he or she wants you to go emotionally. Setting a goal or letting the individual know where you want to go can help you develop this build-up.

Here are several examples:

We must be cool in the face of this catastrophe.
We need to be conscious of what is going on as a family.
Some unfortunate events have occurred, and we must be vigilant.

Then, using anecdotes or examples, you can support your argument. You must demonstrate to the other person that you are on the same page — and that being on the same page is in both of your best interests. You can send a powerful message by being constant in your body posture, voice, and message. This will drive the other person’s emotions closer to where you want them to be.