Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions to become more empathetic and confident. Building emotional intelligence can help you develop in your professional and personal life. Companies these days often value candidates with a high emotional intelligence quotient when hiring. Building emotional intelligence can also help you to  build better relationships with everyone around you. Here is a guide to building emotional intelligence:

Develop self-awareness

The first step to building emotional intelligence is to develop self-awareness. Having self-awareness would mean that you know why you do, what you do and also why you don’t do it. It is the ability to understand that your actions are the result of your feelings and knowing what those feelings are. Without self-awareness, you cannot connect with your emotions. To develop self-awareness, observe your actions and identify what caused them. Once you start to analyze  yourself, you should be able to understand what are your strengths and weaknesses.

Regulate your emotions

Regulating your emotions is the ability to manage your feelings and your actions. However, this does not mean that you turn off your emotions. It means that you channelize your emotions in such a way that you do not act recklessly. If a situation makes you angry, use that anger to motivate yourself instead of lashing out. It means that you take responsibility for your feelings. If you understand that only you are responsible for your feelings, it will make you think before you act.

Practice empathy

Emotional intelligence does not just mean understanding yourself but also others and their feelings. That is why it is important that you practice kindness. Putting yourself in others shoes is key to practicing empathy. When in a conflict, try to understand things from others’ perspective. Even when there is no conflict, give attention to others and their actions. Identify what drives their actions, just like you identify what drives your actions. Pick up on social cues and learn how to read a situation. Practicing empathy will not only help in building emotional intelligence but also strengthen your relationships.

Motivate yourself

Emotionally intelligent people understand what drives them. Hence, they are able to stay motivated. Practice motivating yourself to set goals and strive towards them. Do not let challenges demotivate you. Build a healthy self-esteem and maintain a positive attitude.

Building emotional intelligence can go a long way in helping you become more confident and boost your self-esteem. Once you understand your emotions and know how to regulate them, you can manage your interactions with others better.