One of the things that successful people have in common is a high degree of emotional intelligence (EI). EI represents your ability to comprehend emotions in yourself and others.
It is your capacity to recognize feelings and use this knowledge to motivate, inspire, and direct.
Life offers us repeated opportunities to sharpen our EI, which gives us greater on-the-job success and an improved quality of life with reduced stress. Among those opportunities are:
- Interacting with others. Try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes when reacting to something, avoid being judgmental, and have compassion.
- Giving praise. Take note of the accomplishments of those around you and recognize their hard work and contributions.
- Handling stress. Take a hard look at how you react to stressful situations and move toward a calmer, more results-oriented approach over an emotional one.
- Owning mistakes. When you do something wrong, admit it, apologize for it, and move ahead with the determination to avoid that mistake in the future.
- Expressing emotions honestly. Practice honest communication with those who are important to you, even in highly charged situations, such as when you are angry or hurt.
- Looking inward. Be aware of your emotions in all situations. If it suits you, spend a few minutes each day writing down your thoughts and feelings to gain clarity.
Try assessing your current EI with this short quiz.