How To Develop Emotional Intelligence Skills
December 18, 2012
8 Comments
Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the ability to evaluate and manage your and other people’s emotions. Some people think that it is impossible to raise your EQ level, but as I’ve pointed out in many articles here on Try To Learn More, controlling one’s emotions is a matter of practice.
How To Do It?
1) Remember that it is possible. Often folks try to ridicule any attempts to escape the herd mentality, and pressure courageous individuals into thinking that there is nothing they can change about themselves. Don’t let them demotivate you!
2) Recognize stress triggers. To be prepared for an emotional collision is a battle half-won.
I’ve already covered this topic in these articles:
- How To Keep Your Cool
- Techniques To Reduce Stress
3) Read as much as you can. Books can calm you down, give you an emotional boost, even be a friend; but not only that – the more you read, the more similarities you will notice between the people you know and the fictional characters in the books. This knowledge will help you to understand people even more.
Don’t know what to read? Here are some ideas:
- What To Read Next?
- Listen To AudioBooks For Free
4) Learn how to work in a team. Here is an article I’ve written a while back:
- How To Form An Effective Team
5) You are not always right. Accept the fact that even if you are the brightest person on the planet, you will still make mistakes. That’s why you should always take time to listen to other people’s opinions and only then make a final decision.
More about this topic here:
- How To Make A Good Decision
- Why Making Good Choices Is Difficult
6) Be someone people enjoy hanging out with. Here are some posts that should push you in the right direction:
- How To Apologize
- How To Talk Less
- How To Earn Respect From People
- How To Be Sincere
7) Make new friends and acquaintances. Don’t know how?
- “How Can I Make New Friends?”
- Understanding Introverts: How To Succeed
- How Not To Be Lonely
8) Be an optimist. Don’t be an emotional leach that is dragging everyone into a depressive state.
- The Power Of Positive Thinking
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I also think that this EQ stuff is… well, “made up,” if you can call it that. In real life situations, this quota is as irrelevant as the IQ.
Thanks for the article. I found some emotional intelligence tests online. Do you have any idea how reliable they are?
I wouldn’t really count on them being reliable. EQ measures social skills, and how can that be defined by a simple online service without knowing all the possible variables?
What do you think EQ > IQ?
I don’t know… it really depends on the job. In many cases I would prefer to work with smart people, rather than outgoing ones.