Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand the emotions of people around you and manage your feelings. There are five key elements of EI:
- self-awareness
- self-regulation
- motivation
- empathy
- social skills
Understanding emotions allows us to grow and understand who we are, communicate with others more effectively, and build stronger relationships. Firstly we suggest that to discover the foundation of your EI you need to start with these initial helpful tips such as:
Check In With Your Feelings:
Always question yourself on how you feel. This keeps you informed about your state of emotions.
Example: Every morning you should try to spend a few minutes evaluating your state of mind. How do you feel, worried, or concerned? Don’t take this as an opportunity to judge yourself or be hard on yourself for any of those feelings.
Detect Your Activities:
Notice what feelings do in the world of actions. Effectiveness includes helping to understand your behavior better.
Example: Read the checklist below accurately as everyone has different schedules, and think of your day-to-day habits and practices. If you are feeling fatigued, you will probably realize that you have been taking too much workload or skipping on the rest time.
Reconsider Your Beliefs:
Subtract your prejudices and Bias and then write down your stand. Learn how and why others may have different opinions from those you have and be willing to accept and learn other opinions.
Example: If there is a belief such as ‘’asking for help is a sign of weakness’’ then this should be disputed. Try to imagine how requesting help has benefited you in the past.
Own Your Emotions:
It is important to know that your emotions are yours to count on or claim. Deal with them instead of looking for someone else to be at fault.
Example: Instead of using the sentence, “You made me angry.” try using, “I felt angry when you said that” This way, the responsibility for the emotion lies with you and not the other person.
Celebrate Your Wins:
Positive psychology selects tasks that allow people to spend time on values and enjoy the outcomes, no matter how small they are.
Example: So before you lay down to sleep, try to recall a positive experience or action you’ve done even in the smallest way possible. Have you completed a project or maybe just survived a day? Acknowledge that success.
Address Negative Feelings:
In essence, do not suppress negative feelings. Work away through them to counter-balance.
Example: DO NOT just dismiss feelings of sadness or argue that ‘everyone feels this way sometimes’. This means listing down the things that are bothering you and finding out how those issues can be solved.
Embrace the Journey:
Remember that self-‐development is a continuous journey. Try and try again,do not give up easily.
Example: If you have a designated goal, you must remember that there are times that there are existing problems that occur. It is important to be reminded at this point that the notion of achievement is more about marking small wins than emphasizing the victory itself.
Practice Self-Awareness:
Practically for my self-awareness, it is necessary to evaluate the emotions frequently and understand how they influence cognition and action. To this aim, journaling could be of assistance.
Example: It will be helpful to pay attention to how you behave in various circumstances. If you do not focus on the issue at stake but rather become defensive, then this should be changed.
Seek Feedback:
Request those close to you like friends, parents, or co-workers to give their opinions regarding how you behave emotionally in certain situations. To draw from their expertise and better the change, and to incorporate their ideas to improve the change.
Example: At the end of the working day, consult one of the team members for an opinion about your activity during the team’s project. Do not scold or degrade them, instead learn from what they have to say and make improvements on areas that need to be changed.
Set Personal Goals:
To many, defining is the physical representation of everything you would wish to achieve emotionally and then setting out to ensure that you realize these very goals. This might be enhanced patience, reduced stress, or better empathy just to name a few.
Examples:
1. Start a Workout Routine:
Pledge to take a half an hour walk at least 3 times in a week. It could be jogging, cycling or following a fitness app in the house among others.
2. Eat Healthier:
Anything in your menu that has fruits or vegetables in them should be served daily. For instance, try to include vegetables, especially greens or any fruit at every lunch and dinner, and meals.
3. Increase Daily Steps:
Assuming at the time you are taking 5000 steps daily, then over the next two months, try to transit to taking 10000 steps; this is possible through taking short walks during working breaks or after meals.
4. Improve Flexibility:
Take a break to stretch five times a day or create a regular yoga practice to help you improve your flexibility and alleviate muscle stiffness.
