How to Increase Your Emotional Intelligence

In my recent LinkedIn article Emotional Intelligence – Imperative to Success.  I go in depth about the topic. For more information about EQ, I suggest you read it.

Here I’m going to focus on ways to raise your emotional intelligence (EQ). The simple techniques I am about to offer will help anyone easily and quickly increase their EQ. But first I’ll give you a little insight into EQ.

Emotional Intelligence is being in touch with your own feelings and the feelings of the others enough to be very effective in your communication and your persuasive ability. It determines how effectively and competently one manages their feelings.

I’m going to break down Personal Development first. Remember these may be new ideas that it could take a bit to practice and patience to get used to. Like any new muscle, flexing and repetition will make it stronger.

Develop Self Awareness:

Understanding your emotions and feelings is essential to EQ. Many people with low EQ are victims of their emotions. They are unaware of how they feel and tend to blame others for their actions, reactions and outbursts.

My advice – Establish practices that enhance your ability to understand your emotions. Create a daily ritual for quiet reflection. Become comfortable with peace and serenity. Learning to listen and trust your inner guidance will help you remain calm in the face of challenges.

Understand Your Thoughts:

Understand how what you think affects your feelings, what you do and what you say. Seeing these relationships is vital to being in touch with your emotions.

My advice – Create a Thought Record. This is a very simple and easy to manage visual tracking system. On a sheet of paper create 5 columns: Label them: Event. Emotion. Automatic Thoughts. Images. Result.

By keeping a record for an extended period of time, you will become more self-aware. You’ll understand the relationship between your patterns and triggers. You’ll be more in control of your life as you raise your EQ.

Now for your Professional Development, here are some techniques that I help my clients use.

Identify Your Assets and Liabilities:

Know your strengths and weaknesses. Focus on your assets from the perspective of having more to offer your team and your organization and less of a place of ego. The weakness list is valuable so we know the people to surround ourselves with and from those whom which we might want to seek counsel. Being open to people with diverse ideas is a sign of high EQ.

My advice – Keep a running list of new skills that you develop, awards that you have received and your achievements. These are your assets. Keep a running list of people who can help you offset your weaknesses. Nurture these relationships.

Foster EQ:

Develop a working environment that fosters: Empathy, Effective Communication Systems,

Conflict Management and a Sense of Optimism. Doing this will allow you to leverage emotional intelligence to improve workplace effectiveness.

My advice – Work with someone to help you implement systems that invite sharing, inclusion and support diversity.

If you are able to institute these elements in your organization, you will increase EQ company-wide. This will positively impact everything including the bottom line.

Are you interested in learning more about EQ? I invite you to tune in to Spot-On™ with Regina Barr to see my interview with international bestseller Deb Sandella, PhD, on the topic of Emotional Intelligence. Dr. Deb shares valuable information and insights on EQ. You won’t want to miss it!

Your thoughts are important to me and I would like to hear from you. Please share, comment and like. Thanks for reading!

Make 2018 your best year yet!