Emotional Intelligence can be learned or improved at any time. Here is a list of steps you can take; the primary components of improving your EI includes self-awareness and effective emotional management.
Acknowledge your emotions and those of others
Ask others how they are feeling. Leave the ‘I’m fine’ behind and respond genuinely when asked how you are feeling.
Differentiate and Analyze emotions
There are over 100 different emotions. Think about what you are feeling in order to accurately identify the emotion.
Accept and appreciate emotions
Emotions are not bad but society has placed a stigma over them. Accepting and appreciate what you are feeling at any given time; we have emotions for a reason.
Reflect on emotions and their origins
Identifying where emotions are coming from is a key step in learning how to manage them. Writing your emotions down can help you identify their origin.
Handle your emotions
Find what works for you. While writing them down might be enough, some people need a little extra work in this area. Things like meditation and running are common ways people use to handle their emotions.
Handle the emotions of others
Once you know how to handle your own emotions, you can help others discover how to deal with their own
Critical self-reflection can be done with the 3 Why? Test. Here is how it works:
- Think about a decision you’ve made and ask yourself ‘why’ you made that choice.
- Then, ask yourself what is the ‘why’ to the ‘why’ you made the choice.
- Keep going down the ‘why’ ladder until you cannot go any further.
You will find that many of the ‘whys’ down the ladder are based on assumptions. By questioning your assumptions, you are questioning their validity and opening yourself to different possibilities and perspectives. This is when transformational learning happens.