Emotional intelligence is one of the most important skills to have in 2022, especially if you desire to advance in the professional world. It has been noted that companies that have employees with a high level of emotional intelligence tend to do extremely well, and increase productivity. Here are different ways to increase your emotional intelligence.
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Identify Your Emotions
You have to know how you are feeling. This goes a long way in choosing how you respond to circumstances and people. As you become more self-aware, you should pay attention to labelling your emotions. If you do not know how to identify your feelings, you will react in ways you might not want.
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Communicate Assertively
You should voice out your opinions in a direct manner, while still managing to entertain and respect contrary views. This helps you to earn the respect of those listening to you, and not come across as either too aggressive or too passive.
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Listen Actively
Emotionally intelligent people pay attention when they are being spoken to. They listen to gain clarity and out of interest. They understand that there is non-verbal communication, hence, they prevent misunderstandings by listening properly and giving the right body motions, as a show of respect to who they are listening to.
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Be Self Motivated
Emotional intelligent people know how to be self-motivated. One way to increase your emotional intelligence is to find ways to keep being motivated without help from external factors. It is also important to maintain a positive attitude at all times.
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Receive Critique Well
You should start to see criticism as two things, a confirmation of your visibility and that your wisdom is valuable. Criticism will help you improve, either directly or otherwise.
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Seek To Understand Other Points Of View
Empathy is one of the key features of emotional intelligence. After you can identify your emotions, you should be able to put yourself in the shoes of other people and understand them better. Don’t be quick to make conclusions based on your thoughts and opinions alone, you might not be seeing the whole picture. Try letting go of your own bias and understanding people better. It makes them feel heard, and that their opinions really count. This does not only reveal maturity, but strength as well. It further opens doors for mutual respect.
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Be Sociable
In 2022, make up your mind to become more approachable and sociable. This does not mean you should become extroverted. It just means that people can feel comfortable around you, enough to make conversations. It does not take a lot to be approachable, it could just be a smile, or responding appropriately to salutation and greeting. People suddenly feel they can trust you when they are comfortable around you.
Emotional intelligence is one of the secrets of winning both professionally and personally, as these traits influence your day to day interaction. Emotional intelligence helps you understand yourself better, and from that standpoint, you will be able to effectively interact with others.
Featured Image Source: The Enterprisers Project
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