7 exercises to develop your Emotional Intelligence

emotional intelligence It is one of the constructs that has gained the most popularity in the last decades in the field of psychology, since it has shown to be key in work, educational and sports performance; and it is essential for the well-being of people, their happiness and their personal development.

Fundamentally, it is the set of our mental abilities aimed at identifying and regulating our emotions and feelings, as well as recognizing them in other people to empathize better.

If you still don't know what Emotional Intelligence is and you want to know in detail about it, I invite you to read these two articles:

• “What is emotional intelligence? Discovering the importance of emotions”
• “The 10 benefits of emotional intelligence”

Exercises and activities to develop your Emotional Intelligence

If you already know what Emotional Intelligence is and what its benefits are, the next step is to put it into practice. Here is a list of activities and tips that will allow you to develop your Emotional Intelligence.

1. Have your emotions diary

To start practicing Emotional Intelligence on a daily basis, there is nothing better than having an emotional journal. This activity is simple, as it is similar to the classic adolescent diary.

To carry out the emotions diary, you only have to take 10 or 20 minutes a day, preferably before going to bed, to review how your day has gone on an emotional level. If for example you feel that you have been experiencing stress and you feel sad, write it down. Review how you have felt during the week and compare it with the previous week.

It is important that you add strategies to feel better, that is, tasks you can do to avoid excessive negative emotions. With the emotions diary it is possible to work on emotional self-awareness and emotional regulation as you use it. This strategy is useful for understanding your emotions and for giving yourself feedback about how you feel.

2. Active listening: observe non-verbal language

Active listening is one of the social skills that we should all possess but that we rarely put into practice. And there is a big difference between listening and hearing. Active listening focuses not only on words, that is, it takes into account the nonverbal language and the communication of emotions.

To carry it out in your day to day, you need to take a few minutes from your conversations to voluntarily listen actively. It is possible that you think that it is simple, but it is usual that instead of pay full attention to the other person's communication, our thoughts and our beliefs contaminate our interpersonal communication. So the next time you're in front of someone, take a few minutes to observe their language. body, their gestures, their looks, their expressions and the emotions that the other tries to convey interlocutor.

• Related article: “Active listening: the key to communicate with others”

3. the wheel of life

The wheel of life is one of the most effective techniques to know ourselves and correct those areas of our life with which we are not happy. Performing this exercise does not take more than 20 minutes and its operation is very simple. Its effectiveness is such that even personal development experts use this technique.

This technique helps us know what our wants and needs are, which are often hidden by social demands. Therefore, it is a way of empowering ourselves in the face of life, of putting on paper what we really want and what is important to us. So we can have a clearer vision of where we want to go, from outside our head.

To carry out this exercise, we need a sheet of paper containing a circle so that we can put which areas of our life are important to us and we want to work on. For example, work, friends, partner, family, leisure... Later, it is necessary to evaluate each variable with a score that shows our preference. For example, if work is the most important thing, we will put the number "1". Once we are clear about the order of preference, it is necessary to write down different actions to improve our lives.

4. vipassana meditation

There are different types of meditation, and although many people think that this technique only serves to calm us down, some of these meditative practices are really useful for improving Emotional Intelligence. One of the best known is vipassana meditation.. In fact, vipassana is a term from the Pali language that means “observation” or “clear vision”.

vipassana meditation emphasizes awareness and attention to breathing, focusing the mind on the air that enters and leaves through the nose. When the mind begins to ruminate, it is necessary to label the thoughts and emotions, observe them and let them go, accepting them.

5. stop a minute

Emotional regulation is also one of the keys to Emotional Intelligence and interpersonal relationships. But it is not always possible to stop for a minute in our lives to analyze the present moment. Imagine you are in a collective bargaining at work and things get out of hand. The atmosphere has become tense and you are not reaching an agreement because there is a certain tone of tension. You may want to stop for a moment, clear your head, and respond and negotiate with your head rather than your heart.

You can learn to relax and control your emotions with a one-minute meditation. Once you've perfected it, you can use it anytime, anywhere. In the previous example (that of collective bargaining), if things get out of hand, it is always better to take a 5-minute break so that the waters return to their normal course and the negotiation can be resumed with serenity. In that situation you could take advantage of that break to practice this exercise.

5. read a book

Emotional Intelligence skills can be worked on and improved over time. If you want to enjoy its benefits, it is a good option to read one of the many books on this subject on the market. These texts are a good way to acquire both theoretical and practical knowledge., and surely you will notice the difference. The variety of books is such that you can even help your children develop Emotional Intelligence if you wish.

In the following article you can find a list of editorial works that will surely be useful to you: “10 books on emotional intelligence you need to read”.

6. Sign up for a workshop

If reading a book on Emotional Intelligence is a great option to improve your emotional and relationship skills with others, Better yet is to sign up for a personal growth course on this subject of the many that are available. The truth is that this is a good way to carry out experiential and experiential group practices.

In addition, you can also opt, for example, for any of the Emotional Intelligence courses taught by centers specialized, which allow you to receive quality training online and from anywhere with a connection to Internet. Thus, people interested in perfecting mental abilities linked to Emotional Intelligence can get involved in a highly accessible and quality training program.

7. Attend coaching sessions

In addition to these last two options, it is possible to attend coaching sessions to develop your Emotional Intelligence. A coach is an expert in personal development. that he will help you get to know yourself better and develop your emotional skills, in addition to accompanying you in the process of change so that you can improve your well-being and overcome your limiting beliefs.

The coach will provide you with tools that will help you improve your Emotional Intelligence and, in addition, achieve your goals and objectives. If the coach has university training as a psychologist, much better.

• Related article: “The 10 benefits of Coaching (keys to your personal development)”