16 Strategies to Improve Emotional Intelligence

Including the following habits in our routine will help you have greater emotional well-being and provide very useful coping strategies in life. They will help improve emotional intelligence in the simplest and most affordable way possible. What are the habits to achieve high emotional intelligence? Learn 16 strategies to improve emotional intelligence by reading this article.

Intelligence is no longer measured by the intelligence quotient (IQ), but now the emotional quotient (EQ) is very important and how it guides our daily behavior. Knowing how to be in contact, to speak and listen, to communicate and manage emotions, to assert oneself, to make decisions, to accept compliments … All this makes us more capable and more willing to face the problems of life.

16 Strategies to Improve Emotional Intelligence

1 – Recognize Our Feelings and Those of Others

Have a broad emotional vocabulary that helps you know exactly how to feel and put it into words. In addition, have “empathy“, that is to say, put yourself in the place of the other and feel what the other feels. Recognize the expressions and non-verbal language of others to interpret what they are feeling and to draw all the information possible. So this is the first of the 16 strategies to improve emotional intelligence.

2 – Expressing Emotions and Thoughts Correctly

By recognizing our emotions and feelings, it’s easier to know what to do or how to behave. In this sense, express emotions and thoughts in a more honest way with oneself and with others. Do not close our emotions, listen to them and know what each emotion means in each context. Know how to regulate the intensity of emotions and express them correctly.

3 – Be Strong and Not Be Easily Offended

People with strong emotional intelligence are characterized by a strong personality and the fact of not taking too seriously the comments of others. They do not carry threats to staff and can distinguish between facts and opinions. They differentiate constructive critics from critics who only try to sink them, and know how to stay away from derogatory words that only bring destruction. They know how to distinguish between attacks and how to react to these attacks and decide to do it in the least painful way.

4 – Recognize If You Are Wrong and Correct

To be wrong is inherent to the human being and to any learning process. People with high emotional intelligence learn from mistakes instead of feeling victimized. They also ask forgiveness when necessary if they have done something that could have affected other people in a negative way. Recognize mistakes with humility and try to put in place what is needed to correct the damage or improve the situation.

5 – Do Not Seek Perfection

To know that no one is perfect and that perfection is an illusion that leads to having too distorted expectations of reality. Do not continue to do everything right the first time. Know that everything is part of the learning process and that the error is human.

6 – Take Care of Yourself and Know the Importance of Health

Sleeping well, playing sports, eating well, maintaining healthy relationships, looking for well-being. Know what beneficial behaviors are and do not hesitate to do them. “A healthy mind in a healthy body”. Anyone with great emotional intelligence will take care of his body in the same way.

7 – Focus on the Positive, Even in Adversity

Very emotionally intelligent people are aware of their environment and do not focus too much on the negative. They prefer to stay focused on the positives of each situation, even when they have problems. They practice dissociation and see the situation from different points of view to find a solution. They are not overwhelmed by problems and do not sink, but they put all their energy into what they can do to solve the situation, the one that depends on them and that they control.

8 – Surround Yourself with Happy People with Good Vibrations

“Tell me who you are with and I will tell you who you are” This is something that people with great emotional intelligence understand perfectly, which is why they are connected with dreamy people, optimistic positive energy. By having good vibrations and being surrounded by positive people, they see the world in a healthier perspective and this promotes creativity.

9 – Know How to Say NO

Knowing how to say NO is a giant step if you aspire to great emotional intelligence. Set limits when necessary and defend values first and foremost.

10 – Appreciate and Value What You Already Have

Do not focus attention on what we are missing, but evaluate if we are good with what we already have. People with strong emotional intelligence tend to positively evaluate their life, relationships, work, and economic status, even if that’s not what they want. They do not feel frustrated with what they do not have yet, they prefer to focus on what they have done and what they already have. They appreciate the experiences that life gives them and that makes them as they are.

11 – Know How to Turn the Page and Not Be Anchored in the Past

To have learned to close the stages and not to relive continually aspects of the past, positive or negative. Live in the present and not torment yourself continually for what can happen in the future. This leads to less anxiety and stress. Being emotionally intelligent requires knowing when one stage of life is over and another begins while continuing to progress.

12 – Know Our Weaknesses and Strengths and Continually Improve Ourselves

Know our virtues and strengths, but also know in depth our weaknesses. It comes from a process of deep self-awareness. People with high emotional intelligence try to continually improve themselves, show high values in resilience – the ability to recover from a fall.

13 – Accept the Changes

To know that change is part of life and to deny change is to deny life itself. Accept uncertainty and accept that there are things that cannot be controlled. Appreciate the opportunities that life offers to change and reinvent itself, always in a process of constant improvement. Change the thoughts, the ways of acting, the beliefs … everything is part of the personal development journey.

14 – Be Proactive, Not Reactive

People with strong emotional intelligence are proactive, that is, they move before the situation requires it. They propose plans, strategies, goals, etc. They see life from the point of view of learning, not victimization. In this way, they do not resign themselves to a passive role in their life but rather to “take the bull by the horns” and they are the ones who write their destiny.

15 – Own Our Time and Decide How to Use Our Energies

Know how to manage his work and leisure time, his time of study and relaxation. Establish schedules, schedule tasks, and set goals. Use time and days dedicated to what we are passionate about and offer to others as a gift.

16 – To Know How to Self-Generate Moments of Happiness

Happiness is not something outside that comes or does not come, happiness is a way of seeing life. People with high emotional intelligence know how to generate positive emotions and serve to reinforce magical situations. They manage the emotions as they please and can choose how to feel in each situation. They know how to generate pleasant emotions that help them on a daily basis.