Emotional intelligence is a topic I wanted to explore this week, simply because it is not highlighted enough.
It essentially means being aware of your own feelings and how you express them, while being mindful and engaging in other people’s feelings.
According to Talent Smart, 90% of high performers at the workplace presses high EQ, while 80% of low performers have a low EQ. Your IQ wouldn’t particularly change over time, whereas your EQ can evolve overtime the more we want to grow and learn.
Increasing emotional intelligence:
Increasing your emotional intelligence can be a very positive task for you to succeed in your every day life. Here are a few tips for increasing your emotional intelligence:
Decreasing your negative thought process:
Introduce new exercises to create a positive thought process that can improve how you view your own emotions. Being able to effectively manage your negative thoughts and have full control over them can make such a positive impact on your wellbeing.
For example, try to reduce negative personalisation. This means if someone’s behaviour is affecting you, do not jump to a negative conclusion and think about why their behaviour has presented itself to you. While researching, I learned that you should “come up with multiple ways of viewing the situation before reacting”. For example, I could be tempted to think my friend didn’t return my call because she’s ignoring me, or I can consider the possibility that she’s been very busy. Once you practice this tool, it will reduce your negative thought process and anxiousness. If you create a bigger perspective, it will allow you to eliminate the possibility of misunderstanding.
Reducing the fear of rejection:
This can be very hard because we were always taught in life that winning and getting what you want causes happiness. But growing up we were never taught how rejection can happen in life also.
Avoid emotionally putting all your eggs in one basket and create different scenarios about a certain situation. For example, to explain this further, in my research I learned from these examples. “Increased fear of rejection: I’m applying for my dream job. I’ll be devastated if they don’t hire me” “Decreased fear of rejection: I’m applying for three exciting positions. If one doesn’t pan out, there are two more I’m well qualified for”. Having this outlook on rejection, can protect you from disappointment.
Managing stress:
How we manage stress, can determine our mood dramatically. Being able to manage it in a positive way will make you ultimately happier. You will either react to the stressful situation or be assertive. One tip I learned while trying my best to reduce my nervousness and anxiousness is to splash cold water on your face and go for a walk. The cool temperature reduces anxiety. Avoid caffeine drinks due to the caffeine affecting your nervous system.
This is just a small amount of information about improving your emotional intelligence. I would highly recommend researching this further if you find it interesting and beneficial.
