Over the past few years, emotional intelligence (“EI”) has become one of the most popular psychology theories. Many people claim it can have profound effects on your overall well-being and quality of life.

Some even say that having high levels of EI makes you more likely to succeed in work or other areas of your life. This is why many organizations now offer courses on developing your EQ.

But what exactly is emotional intelligence? And how can we improve it in ourselves and others?

In this article, we will discuss some ways to develop your own emotional intelligence. We will also look at some easy things you can do to help someone else gain their level of EI.

Emotional intelligence is your ability to recognize, understand, and manage your emotions. It helps you achieve your goals by motivating you to perform certain actions.

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It also contributes to relationships – whether they are professional, romantic, or family-based. Without empathy and understanding for others, it can be difficult to maintain strong friendships and familial bonds.

So while there are several types of emotional skills, e.towhenver possible to measure just one aspect of EI. But no matter which ones you focus on, everyone should be able to identify them and use them occasionally!

There are a number of strategies and exercises you can try to increase your own emotional intelligence. Here are some tips for achieving that goal.

Have patience

People are not necessarily going to feel good about you all the time, but with repeated exposure, you will see changes in their emotional states and how they relate to others.

This is why it is important to have patience when investing in other people’s emotional growth. It may take months before you see positive results, even years if there is no improvement at all, but your persistence will be worth its weight in gold.

People who lack emotional intelligence often make snap decisions without giving themselves enough time to process what happened. This sometimes leads to hurt feelings or bad relationships that drag down their self-esteem.

It can also create a sense of entitlement where they expect things from you and yourself to stay strong because they don’t seem to understand how much pain they cause you.

On the contrary, people with high levels of EI learn how to regulate their emotions so they only get upset for a few minutes at a time. They are better able to separate their anger towards someone else for something that person said or did from them as an individual.

If they had to deal with such individuals before, they would probably try to avoid being around those people unless they work on their own emotional regulation.

Make eye contact

Making direct, meaningful eye contact is one of the most powerful ways to gain someone’s trust and respect. When making eye contact with people, you should try to do it as consistently and as frequently as possible.

When your eyes meet another person’s, there are a few things that happen. For one, both parties understand each other more clearly because they're sharing an expression.

A genuine look goes beyond just trying to see who's looking into yours the longest or what color their eyes are- those are mostly surface level behaviors.

By establishing connection through our looks, we show desire for others and understanding them. It creates a sense of security and intimacy, which is why almost every romantic relationship begins with two people spending time together.

Making eye contact also helps us feel connected to others. We form bonds when we connect with people, so developing relationships comes down to investing in interactions with individuals around us.

Be realistic

A lot of theories about emotional intelligence focus only on your own emotions, how you process them, and what effects they have on others. This is fine, but there’s another important part of EQ that gets overlooked.

You need to be able to recognize other people’s emotions so you can determine their underlying feelings. You also need to understand why they are feeling a certain way before you can apply appropriate strategies to help them feel better.

This article will go into more detail on some ways to develop this ability.

Share your experiences

One of the biggest ways to develop emotional intelligence is by sharing your own experiences – both good and bad. By understanding what makes you feel happy or sad, they can help others learn from that.

We’ve discussed before how important it is to acknowledge and accept things about yourself, but there are times when that isn’t enough.

It’s not enough to recognize that you're a hard worker; you have to share some examples of hard work. You don’t need anyone else's definition of success, but if theirs includes large houses and yachts, then maybe you should too.

You have to realize that mistakes were made, so let other people learn from them.

By learning more about yourself and other people, you'll find out how to motivate them and influence them. And trust me, they’re all influenced by everyone around them at some level — whether they know it or not.

Be realistic

We’ve discussed before how emotional intelligence (or EQ as it is commonly referred to) can help you deal with other people, but what if you wanted to improve someone else’s EQ? What if you want to make them feel more confident, happy, or motivated?

It may sound crazy, but there are some things that you could do to boost their emotional quotient. And while this may seem like a trick question, I assure you it is not!

Emotional intelligence is an integral part of being human. We all have different levels depending on our individual experiences and life situations, but we all have enough to work with for most matters.

If you happen to meet your own limitations in this area, you still can be very successful with others. It’s just going to take more effort than trying to give everyone else high emotions.

But remember, even though it might sound silly, developing your empathy and understanding of other people is a worthy goal. Who knows, maybe one day you will find yourself in a situation where having limited EQ would serve you well.

Be honest

A lot of helping others is about being authentic and being yourself. When you’re investing your time into someone else, put yourself first by looking out for their best interest first. If you’ve got something going on that you need to get done, make sure you take care of it because this person will eventually find out!

If you’re trying to help someone work through an issue they’re having, be aware of when it’s appropriate to drop a bomb or if it's better to just keep supporting them until they ask for help. Sometimes people feel overwhelmed with all the issues they have and don’t want to focus on anything other than fixing what’s wrong so they avoid asking for help.

Don’t assume things about them or try to fix them for them unless they ask you to, but if they do ask you to help them address an issue, be honest and direct without making assumptions.

Be consistent

Consistency is one of the most important things when it comes to developing emotional intelligence. If you consistently put in the effort to understand someone’s emotions, then they will feel that you have done your homework and invested in their well-being.

They will trust that you know them and what makes them unhappy or happy, and therefore devote more time and energy into satisfying their needs.

Consistently showing empathy for others can also help develop emotional intelligence. Even if nothing significant happens, like no fights occur or people don’t get hurt, just by knowing that you understood something important about someone else helps them feel less alone.

And although this may sound cliché, staying calm and rational during difficult times can help someone feel better. They might not agree with your decision, but at least they feel that you are taking control and doing what is best for them.

Be optimistic

In order to develop emotional intelligence in someone, you need to be an optimist of at least average level. If you are always looking on the negative side, it can prevent people from seeking out help because they do not want to seem too needy or asking for things.

It also may put pressure on those around you to keep acting like everything is okay so that you do not get involved. This could cause them to avoid you or even hurt them more by waiting for you to show signs of weakness before helping.

If you are consistently showing optimism, I believe you will see changes in how others respond to you. People will feel comfortable approaching you about problems, and you will receive help more often.

Optimism is a quality that most people have, but some people lack certain qualities such as emotional intelligence. By having this quality, you will know what to do when other people’s emotions reach their limit.

You can learn how to develop your own emotional intelligence, but practicing it on others is another way to strengthen the skill.