Nuture Emotional Intelligence

This week, we are looking at the importance of nurturing emotional intelligence to better yourself from the inside out. Of course, this will also translate when dealing with others. Emotional intelligence is important. If you don’t understand your feelings or the feelings of those around you, then you can’t effectively work toward your goals.

Practice Active Listening

This may sound like something your teacher would tell you in elementary school; however, good listening still applies to adults. It takes time and practice to really know how to actively listen to someone for even a small conversation. Active listening allows you to better understand others' feelings and perspectives. It allows you to step outside of your own worldview and attempt to live in someone else’s shoes. Taking time to learn and practice active listening can help you become a better person and someone people want to be around. Don’t be afraid to ask someone to repeat themselves or rephrase something they said; it is better to ask for them to clarify than to have a misunderstanding later.

Active listening can also be utilized and practiced when listening to audiobooks, podcasts, or videos. Practicing it on these platforms can give you a safe space and allow you to retain the information for a longer period of time. The ease of being able to pause or slow down the speed of the media will give you an easier starting point for learning active listening. Taking time to learn what works for you and how you listen best is essential for establishing good listening habits.

Reflect on Your Emotions

Reflecting on your emotions and their specific triggers can help you manage your reactions effectively. When reflecting on your emotions, it’s important to remember that just because you react to something does not mean that the specific thing in front of you is the root of the issue. It may just have been the tipping point. If you find yourself reacting to things and almost immediately wonder why you reacted as you did, this could mean there is a different root to the issue. The current situation may not be as serious, but perhaps there are underlying subconscious issues you may be dealing with. Reflecting on your emotions before it’s too late can help prevent future disagreements or disproportionate reactions.

Taking time to understand your emotions and understand that not all emotions are bad is essential for managing how you present yourself to peers. However, understanding that everyone else experiences emotions also can be helpful in managing your own. Giving grace to people who react seemingly dramatically to a situation may help avoid escalation. Remember that people may have problems and things going on in their lives that you are not privy to, just as they may not be privy to everything in your life. Understanding your emotions and knowing how to control them can be a very beneficial aspect of becoming the best version of yourself.

Develop Empathy

I’ve mentioned multiple times already that improving yourself involves understanding and giving grace to others. But it must be overstated in order to emphasize how important it is. Developing empathy can be difficult, and there will be times when you find yourself getting overwhelmed by others’ reactions. But putting yourself in others' shoes allows you to show compassion for others, your community, and yourself. Being the best version of yourself involves knowing how to live and thrive with those who are around you. One tip I have for learning and practicing empathy is to read. Reading fiction and memoirs can be beneficial in understanding the inner workings of a person’s mind without actually being in the situation. Reading books will give you a safe space to allow yourself to learn empathy for a myriad of different individuals.

Empathy can also be very difficult when a person or people are unwilling to work with you and your own feelings about a situation. Taking a step back and analyzing the situation may help you see the situation from their point of view. They may have different moral convictions or presuppositions about a situation. Perhaps they may be seeing a side of things you aren’t. Try not to give solutions or advice unless asked for, as it may come across incorrectly.

Improve Your Communication Skills

Expressing yourself clearly and handling conflicts constructively is important to emotional intelligence. Without good communication, you and those around you could run into misunderstandings, which could have been avoided easily. Taking time to think about what you will say helps you to come across clearly and intentionally. Pausing can also be helpful when communicating yourself to others. It may seem awkward, but pausing can allow you to stop, think, and collect yourself without unnecessary stammering.

Communication is more than just how well you speak. It has to do with how you present yourself while speaking and when listening. Watching your body language, and even how you dress can help communicate what you want to people. While it may not be a good way to approach life, often, people cannot help but judge a book by its cover. So be the cover you want people to see you as. There is no need to change your entire appearance and personality, but presenting yourself professionally may help people to be more willing to listen to you.

Conclusion

Emotional intelligence is something that is learned and then constantly practiced. There are many different elements to having mature emotional intelligence. Active listening, reflection, empathy, and communication skills are broad terms used to mark major categories that are important when learning how to improve your own emotional intelligence.

For more blogs in this series, check out the links below. If you have any questions, contact me at the information below.