Emotional intelligence can solve a lot of problems.

Here are 8 ways it can help you:

Communicating assertively

Up until recently, I considered silence as a way of communication. I considered that I was communicating when I remained silent – when I wanted to say something.

I know others out there do this, too. They either remain silent in conversations or they give the cold shoulder as if it is an art. It is not.

Communication needs clear words, words that are not vague to interpret. Communication needs you to say what you need to say. Not expecting the other person to read your mind.

Communication needs a healthy environment. It does not need shouting for the message to be received. It does not need arguing. It needs healthy conversations – not battles that one is fighting to win at every cost.

Responding instead of reacting to conflicts

When you are a person who calmly responds to situations, you are becoming emotionally intelligent.

This is where it comes in handy. No one has taught us that we have to keep our cool when the external environment is tempting us to lose it. But we are fighting to be in control. That is what emotional intelligence teaches us.

Listening

I don’t mean sitting next to your friend while he talks and your mind is elsewhere. I mean paying attention to what he is saying. To the extent that you forget yourself and what you want to say for the time being.

Internal motivation

You don’t expect “feeling like it” to come from the outside world. You are internally motivated. This is different from acquiring knowledge. The thing that will make you continue your journey is your intrinsic motivation.

Maintaining a positive attitude

I have been told more times than I can count how lucky I am that I am a positive person. As if positivity is something that was given to me at birth.

I tell these people that it is incredibly difficult to be positive. But I choose to be positive in every day of my life. And it is hard work. That does not mean that I am jaded or that I live in a challenge free environment. These things surround me.

But I choose to see what I can about the situation rather than dwell on the thing that happened.

I have learned firsthand just how much a positive shift in our perspective can honestly change our lives.

Life is so much easier to navigate when you believe that you can do it. It’s crazy what a difference our mindset makes.

Yes, it takes audacity to think positively and acknowledge our power, but now that I know this? I wouldn’t have it any other way. It makes life taste better. It impacts everything.

You have the same choices as I do every single day. It’s true. Regardless of your circumstances, you can choose to see yourself as somebody who is going to beat the odds, or you can see yourself as somebody who is too broken beyond repair.

Self-awareness

I write a lot about this. Self-awareness will not wake us one day and tell us, “Here I am, be me.”You have to cultivate it. Every single day.

And being able to do that is really about being in the present moment than anything else. Whether that moment is a good one or a bad one.

If it is the former, you get to appreciate the moment. Like the sound of your lover’s voice. Like the beauty of your breathing. Like that warm feeling you get when you hug someone, you care about.

If it is the second one, you get to catch negative emotions before they destroy you. Like, anger simmering to make your life hell. Like, hurt thriving to make you as small as possible.

You get to catch emotions as they appear. You get to be in control. You get to decide to let those things in you or outside of you.

Taking criticism well

If we take criticisms as only enemies that are out there to attack us, it is possible that they would break us, shatter our mind in a way that could never be repaired.

Change this habit of taking everything personally. Remember, every coin has two sides.

The most underrated trait of all successful highly emotionally intelligent people I’ve ever met: learning from others.

Your willingness to learn from others directly determines how well you grow in your life.

Listen, if possible, as a third person to what others are saying to you.

Do not close your mind. You might learn something.

Empathizing with others

Even though you don’t agree, you can understand. You can empathize.

People can disagree with each other about things, even important things, and still like each other very much.

To your inspirations,

Banchi