Intelligence is the ability to learn, understand and find solutions to the problems in life. We can become intelligent in many areas of our lives. We can learn science, technology, music, and so on. Similarly, we can also develop intelligence in the field of emotions.
What is Emotional Intelligence?
Being emotionally intelligent means having the ability to understand and regulate one’s own and others’ emotions. Emotional intelligence is about being aware of the feelings and emotions of human beings.
What are emotions and where do they come from?
Have you ever wondered why you feel angry when someone does something you have told them a thousand times not to do or why you have this fear of people abandoning you or why you feel good when are in nature?
All these emotions like anger, fear, and happiness are happening in response to the situations mentioned above.
So, we can say that emotions are the responses to situations and events in our lives. As per the situation we are in different kinds of chemicals or hormones are released in our bodies and are expressed as emotions.
What emotions we will express in which situation is usually learned by our bodies through experiences in our lives. As we grow up, we get to experience a lot of situations and events. These situations shape our bodies and subconsciousness in which emotions are to be expressed.
Can you change and improve your emotional responses by using intelligence?
Although emotional responses are learned subconsciously, they can be changed and improved by developing emotional intelligence. By becoming aware of our emotions and responses we can change and improve our emotional responses.
Benefits of having a high emotional intelligence in the workplace:
Being emotionally intelligent is very beneficial in all aspects of our lives. By having a higher emotional quotient one can maintain sound and healthy interpersonal relationships and have peaceful personal lives.
IQ builds your resume; EQ builds your character:
Having good cognitive intelligence will land you good jobs but having good emotional intelligence will land you good promotions. A high EQ is an indicator of good leadership qualities which helps you climb up the corporate ladder and grab better opportunities and promotions.
Not Dependent on others for your Happiness
As you become self-aware and start to recognize the source of your happiness (one of the emotions) you can develop your inner mechanisms to find happiness in yourself and not depend on others for lifting your mood. When we are dependent on others to feel happy, we always feel like we are on an emotional roller-coaster but when we only rely on ourselves for our happiness, we feel liberated and free.
How to develop higher Emotional Intelligence:
Anyone can improve their emotional intelligence at any time in their lives. It is commonly misunderstood that once we create a pattern of emotional expression it is very difficult to change that. But that is not the case, with some time and learning one can improve their emotional state manyfold. Some tips on how to develop emotional intelligence are given below:
IQ builds your resume; EQ builds your character:
You can start your journey to improve your emotional intelligence by signing up for some EQ classes and courses. By taking lectures and advice from experts you can start to realise the depth of this concept. As we learn anything new, we find it strange and difficult to understand initially. But as you give time and stick to learning more about the ways to improve emotional intelligence, you gain a deeper understanding and valuable insights. So, start that workshop, take that course, or read a book today.
Keeping a track of your emotions: write it down:
One of the most useful and easy ways to manage your emotions is to write them down. By writing down all the small details about your emotions each day you will create a kind of database of your emotions. Here you can come back later to analyse and extract the reasons and causes of why you felt that way, what was the intensity of emotions in certain situations, how you coped with it, etc. This data will help you identify and take action to improve your emotional behaviour.
Getting rid of the victim mindset:
Many people who are in big emotional turmoil often fall into a victim mindset. When we are in a victim mindset, the scope of getting out of it and improving our emotional state is low. Knowing that we are not victims and that we are in control of how we feel and react can benefit us a lot. So, try to come out of your victim mindset by deliberately giving yourself some moments to be happy. Saying affirmations to yourself, like, I give you all the happiness you deserve. You are perfect for me, and I love to see you smile, will help you come out of the victim mindset.
Practicing gratitude:
You improve your emotional intelligence by practicing gratitude each day. Being grateful for big as well as small and mundane things in life will allow you to see things from a new perspective. Also, when you are grateful, you feel happier and have levels of emotions.
Empathizing with others:
Last but not least, empathy towards others. Developing the feeling of empathy towards others, understanding why they do what they do, and what are they feeling in situations and events in the workplace or somewhere else, will give you immense capacity for emotional intelligence.
Thank you, I hope you liked reading this article and found some valuable information.
To learn how you can deal with stress and avoid burnout at the workplace go check out this post: how you can deal with stress and avoid burnout at work.
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