To lead a fulfilling life, one must have emotional intelligence, which includes understanding, evaluating, accepting and handling one's own emotions and those of others. It is a key to having a healthy, socially active life and to relieve stressful living.
When you are unaware of others' feelings and emotions you are likely to hurt them and incur their malice.
As humans, we are very expressive of our emotions, but sometimes we hide them better, suppress them until, erupt into uglier versions and hurts others, not acknowledging their need for emotional support. But when you are emotionally intelligent, you can influence people, gain their respect, make good relations with your co-workers, perform better in your job, and improve your social skills.
Indications of low emotional intelligence-
You have difficulty understanding other people's emotions and you can't figure out their thoughts.
You do not care for other people’s feelings and think that they might be over dramatic with their problems and emotions.
You don’t feel the urge to actually listen to others and empathize with them.
You become irritated easily at people for not understanding your side of perspective.
You are always thinking about your gain and in the process hurt others. You won’t hesitate to throw them under the bus in times of adversities because you put yourself first.
You don't admit your fault even when you know that by doing so you are hurting the next person.
You can't pinpoint what people actually feel, talk or think about you.
What help can you get at being emotionally intelligent?
When you start to understand people’s reactions and feelings, you can build good relationships with them. Everybody needs someone to look after them and understand their emotions. In this way, it contributes to better relationships and social connections.
Skills of an emotionally intelligent person-
Awareness of self
Understand what triggers your emotions, and what are your strong and weak points. They acknowledge that failure is just a test that they need to tackle and ace. They comprehend that their words and actions have consequences and can affect their closed ones.
An emotionally aware parent would know how their words may affect their child and stunt their mental and emotional growth.
A loving partner knows that being jealous and constant naggings can mentally distraught a person and ruin their relationship.
A true leader knows that since his team is looking up to him, he does not back down and blame them for setbacks and give them the support he is receiving.
Regulating emotions
It is important that you know how you can respond and regulate your emotions under different social circumstances. It often depends on how well you can take criticism.
The next step entails knowing your triggers, which can be due to childhood trauma, the environment, coping mechanisms.
How do you react or what is your immediate reaction? Do you go on a guilt trip or do you gaslight others to make them feel they are guilty? Do you take accountability for your actions or do you shift the blame on others?
Communication
With better emotional judgment comes effective communication. You are mindful of your words, empathize with people more, and hold on to the meaningful conversation. An emotionally intelligent person practices active listening.
A feeling of understanding and acceptance encourages people to communicate honestly. They give absolute attention to the speaker and make them feel heard.
Leadership quality
The basic leadership quality is succeeding together with the team and not walking ahead of them. You need to be humble and have the emotional intelligence to empathize with their feelings and motivate them for a better prospect of reaching the goal together.
You need to understand and control how you feel and need to be patient. Even if they are working under you, they have the same goal as you, which is the need to succeed, and their pace might not be the same as yours. Hence, it can be said that emotional intelligence helps you more.
Understands humans better
They are aware that everybody comes with a baggage of emotions and it’s okay to feel them. They put themselves in others’ shoes and try to think from their perspective too.
An emotionally intelligent person grasps the gravity of a situation and doesn't let others down. They question themselves ‘’ how would I have felt like in this situation’’, ‘’how they must be feeling after this incident’’ , ‘’what can I do to help them?’'
In Conclusion
Emotional intelligence is a skill that can be mastered to understand and regulate emotions better. It can help you in your personal and professional life. It can help you deal with your feelings of anger, overwhelming, insecurity or anxiety and you can also help others struggling with the same emotions.
You can learn to validate others, push yourself to do the right thing and be motivated. People with high emotional intelligence are better at communication, have stronger relationships, more empathy, have better choices, and are less stressed. Emotional intelligence can also improve leadership skills and overall well-being.
About the author
Priti Kumari Rajak is a new content writer with an English major. She was born on May 26, 2003, in Kharagpur, West Bengal, and is currently in Bhubaneswar for her graduation. She reads a lot and could probably talk about books all day. She is always eager to learn new skills and never cowers away from hard work. She is a dedicated and orderly individual who has a passion for writing.
Reach her at
Email- priti.kr.rajak098@gmail.com
LinkedIn profile- www.linkedin.com/in/priti-kumari-rajak098
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