10 Things You Need to Know That Will Increase Your Emotional Intelligence

“Emotional intelligence is a way of recognizing, understanding, and choosing how we think, feel, and act. It shapes our interactions with others and our understanding of ourselves” — unknown

There are many different types of intelligence. The most common ones that the average person is more familiar with are what refer to as “street smarts” and “book smarts”.

While these are very obvious and known types of intelligence, there are many others that are important to have.

The one I will be talking about in this article is emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is made up of managing, perceiving, using, and understanding emotions.

I believe emotional intelligence is one of the most useful types of intelligence an individual can have. That is because when you know a lot about emotions you can do two very important things, (1) understand yourself and (2) understand others.

Being able to do those two things can bring you extremely far in life. You will have more awareness of how you react to things, how you can help yourself through hard times, and have a better perspective during difficult times. In terms of others, you will have more empathy for them, help others get through tough times, and bring up important points to help shift their perspective.

And that’s just a few of the perks of being emotionally intelligent! It also helps make life a bit easier because you can understand that negative emotions are just a part of life that helps you learn and grow. Overall helping you live life to the fullest rather than just getting through it!

If you feel you are already emotionally intelligent and don’t need to read this, don’t leave quite yet. What I talk about may bring up a point you didn’t know about or remind you of something important. Plus, remember we always have room to grow.

If you feel you are not emotionally intelligent or could be more, I definitely encourage you to read all the way through. Something I write may open your eyes or click for what you are going through. Even if it does not click at the moment, it will expose you to new ideas that are now available for you to go back to at any time.

So, without further ado…

10 Things You Need to Know to Increase Your Emotional Intelligence

1. Every experience, person, and emotion, positive or negative, comes into your life for a reason. That reason is to learn an important lesson that you can grow from.
2. The hardest thing to do may be to feel your feelings but it is the healthiest and most productive. Courage is in the willingness to express your true emotions to yourself and others and is not a weakness.
3. People who are emotionally unavailable were never taught that they are safe to feel and express their emotions.
4. People’s defense mechanisms, the way they react in arguments, & behave, are how they avoid the pain of their childhood and protect themselves from feeling those emotions again.
5. You can not give anyone real love, honesty, vulnerability, connectedness, etc. if you can’t give it to yourself first.
6. One of the keys to happiness in the future is being happy with what you have now. In other words, being grateful for what you have and finding happiness in it rather than saying “Once I am in a relationship/have more money/dream job I will be happy”.
7. Everything you need to heal you already have within you. Every answer you are searching for, you know. If you have trouble finding it, it’s because in order to know you may have to confront the parts of you or past experiences you are too afraid to go back to.
8. Every emotion, negative or positive, gives you insight into yourself. They reveal what you need, what lifts you up, what drains you, what is too much, what is right for you etc. There is a lesson in each one about yourself.
9. What you think, feel, and say you attract. If you hate yourself, your experiences will be a reflection of that unless you can find a way to change your perspective.
10. Emotions are our natural superpowers. When listened to and felt you will be gifted with many positive outcomes. The reason why pushing them down has such massive negative effects on us is because we are refusing & overlooking what it means to be human.

That might have been a lot, let that sink in for a little. Think about which ones really stood out to you and made sense. Did any of them not make sense? If so, don’t stress. If you are hearing any of this for the first time it is likely to be a little confusing.

If that’s the case, feel free to reach out to me for a more in-depth explanation! You can find that info below :)

❤️🌻 Thank you for reading! If you have questions leave a private or public comment on here or message me on Instagram!

For more inspiration, soul enlightenment, mental health, and personal development follow my Instagram — @skylarraeblog

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