7 Habits of Emotionally Intelligent People
“Anybody can become angry, that is easy – but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way, that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy.”
Aristotle
An emotionally intelligent person is one who has the ability to handle his or her own emotions, as well as the emotions of other people.
Emotionally intelligent people exhibit the following series of habits and behaviors that contribute to their ability to manage their own emotions and understand other people’s feelings.
1 – Emotionally intelligent people pay attention to what they are feeling
Daniel Goleman identifies self-awareness as a key component to emotional intelligence. Self-awareness is the ability to recognize one’s moods, emotions, and feelings.
Another part of self-awareness involves being aware of how one’s emotions and moods can affect other people. The ability to manage one’s own emotional state in relation to others is a basic requirement for emotional intelligence.
2 – Emotionally intelligent people recognize how other people feel
Empathy is another prerequisite for emotional intelligence. Empathy is the ability to understand other people’s emotions.
Emotionally intelligent people are capable of knowing how others are feeling, which helps them interact in multiple areas of life, like at work or in school. If a coworker is upset or frustrated, knowing how that person feels can give one a better idea of how to respond.
3 – Emotionally intelligent people are capable of regulating their own emotions
Self-regulation is absolutely fundamental to emotional intelligence. Understanding one’s emotions is important, but it isn’t particularly helpful if you don’t know how to use this knowledge. That’s why emotionally intelligent people think about their emotions before acting on them. These people are in tune with what they feel, but they don’t let their emotions govern their lives.
4 – Emotionally intelligent people are motivated
Emotionally intelligent people feel motivated to achieve their goals and are able to manage their behavior and feelings in order to be successful in the long term.
Emotionally intelligent people might be nervous when making a life change, but they know it’s important to manage this fear. When they take a leap and make the change, they know that doing so is bringing them a step closer to achieving their goals.
5 – Emotionally intelligent people have great social skills
Emotionally intelligent people also tend to have great social skills. This is likely due, at least in part, to the fact that they are in tune with their own feelings, as well as other people’s feelings.
They know how to deal with people effectively, maintain healthy social relationships, and help those around them to be successful.
6 – Emotionally intelligent people can talk about their feelings with others
On top of being able to talk about their feelings in public, they are also willing to. Some people are in tune with their emotions, but they struggle with sharing these feelings with others. However, emotionally intelligent people not only understand their feelings, but they also know how to express them appropriately, and they do so regularly.
7 – Emotionally intelligent people are able to correctly identify the cause of their emotions
Emotionally intelligent people are able to look at a situation and correctly identify the true source of their emotions. At first this can seem like an easy task, but in reality it’s not so easy, because emotions can be complicated. Tracing the exact source of one’s feelings can be particularly difficult in cases involving strong emotions, like love or anger.
Improving your emotional intelligence
Improving your emotional intelligence requires a lot of work, but it can be done. In fact, it’s completely necessary if you want to progress on a personal level and improve your relationships with others.