If you hope to create healthy relationships with others, it’s crucial that you learn how to build emotional intelligence. Doing so requires dedication to changing the way you think about certain situations, as well as your communication style.
Developing self-awareness.
Being conscious of your own emotions and your emotional reactions may help you develop greater emotional awareness. Recognising when you are experiencing anxiety or anger may assist you in processing and communicating those emotions in a manner that supports a good outcome.
While self-reflection is an essential part of developing emotional intelligence, it is crucial to consider how others perceive your conduct and speech. A key element of being emotionally intelligent is knowing how you are being received by others and the impact of your emotions on others.
The Link Between Empathy and Emotional Intelligence
Understanding how empathy works is the first step towards building emotional intelligence. Empathy is being able to understand and put yourself in the shoes of another person’s emotions.
Emotional intelligence can also be described as cognitive compassion because you’re taking on another person’s emotions without allowing them to affect you. When you’re able to be aware of and express your own emotions while understanding the emotions of others you actively build emotional intelligence.
Cultivating Social Skills
When working on your emotional intelligence, you’ll need to keep up with your social skills. In fact, there are a few common types of social skills that affect it, including:
- Self-awareness
- Self-management
- Motivation
- Empathy
- Managing interpersonal relationships
Developing these social skills is ultimately what leads to a high level of emotional intelligence. You must be willing to let go of your ego and any sense of superiority you feel in order to consider others.
Psychologist Dr Daniel Goleman also explains that there are social skill deficits many people have. The 5 common types are what often hold people back and are as follows:
- Basic communication skills
- Empathy and rapport skills
- Interpersonal skills
- Problem-solving skills
- Accountability
When these social skills aren’t properly developed, people struggle to form healthy and lasting relationships.
Emotions are a primitive form of communication and they can lead to positive or negative effects, depending on how they’re managed. Cultivating social skills leads to better emotional management and places a focus on bettering yourself and reaching your goals.
These social skills are especially handy in leadership positions in the workplace. Leaders who are empathetic show others how to make positive changes in their lives that they probably haven’t discovered yet. This is an incredible skill to have, as it can help you reach new heights in your career while helping others.
Maintaining an optimistic attitude.
Nothing is more infectious than having a hopeful and optimistic attitude about your life, as well as maintaining positive interactions with others. The impact of a constructive feedback, an encouraging email, or a kind action can have on an individual is well understood by emotionally sophisticated people. When you can maintain a good attitude amid a stressful situation, you may assist others around you in remaining calm. This mindset may also foster more problem-solving and collaboration in the future.
The Takeaway
It takes time to build emotional intelligence but if you’re willing to set your ego aside and become more empathetic, you’ll be well on your way! As you learn more about others and yourself, you’ll start to see the many benefits of having high emotional intelligence.