As we begin the new year, now is the time to check in with yourself and make sure you’re in a good place to start this new chapter. One of the biggest impacts on your happiness is your emotional health. Being transparent and real will help you go into the new year confident.
Dr. Travis Bradberry outlined what he believes are the easiest ways to determine if you have high emotional intelligence. As you read through some of the indicators, try and be mindful of how this knowledge can allow you to develop a personalized emotional support plan and provide emotional first aid to others.
Emotional Vocabulary:
Having a large emotional vocabulary may not seem crucial but it’s more about what the words can tell you, not the fact that they’re big words. Having a larger emotional vocabulary allows you to pinpoint what emotion you are actually experiencing, as opposed to the general feeling.
For example, if you can determine that you feel irritable, not just a general bad feeling, that’s more insightful. You can find a solution for your pain a lot quicker if you know exactly what it is.
You’re Curious About Others:
People who are genuinely in touch with themselves are more likely to strive to be in touch with others. If you find yourself investing in others and what they’re going through, that’s a good sign you are empathetic to them and in turn, have a better understanding of yourself.
If you feel a void in this area of your life, try focusing on spreading positivity to others and paying more attention to yourself and your emotions.
You Let Go of Mistakes You Make:
Being in touch with your emotions will help you mentally distance yourself from the wrongs and mistakes you’ve made. You will be able to separate “What did I learn from this” from feeling guilty and torn up about it.
To dwell on your mistakes too long causes insecurity and self-doubt. People who are in touch with their emotions are able to find a balance between ignoring mistakes and harping on them.
You’re Difficult to Upset:
If you’re truly in touch with yourself and your emotions, it will be far more difficult for someone to offend or upset you. Being confident in you, the real you, will help to keep from others’ negative opinions or comments from influencing you.
Emotional intelligence gives you self-confidence and a thick skin. You have an easy time distinguishing between a joke and an insult.
You Take Time to be Alone:
Most people with high emotional intelligence and self-awareness prioritize finding times to be alone, off social media, and want to decompress. If you’re constantly busy you’re giving yourself the OK to burn out.
Not having the time to decompress from the regular happenings of life limits your ability to be a positive influence on the environment you’re in. If you are stressed and tired you can’t properly assess yourself or others.
Being in touch with your emotions and having high emotional intelligence is a process. You can’t wake up one morning with those skills. If you read through these and feel like you’re missing something and want to heal and learn to interpret your emotions better, it might be time to speak to an expert. 60% of people experience trauma in their lifetime. This often leads to an inability to truly know yourself without emotional first aid.
We want to empower you to practice emotional intelligence as well as use it to aid others in their personal journey! If you want to dive deeper into emotional first aid, please reach out to us via our website contact form.