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You know that feeling you get when you meet someone for the first time and you seem to instantly connect on many levels? It’s like you already knew each other and you’re reuniting after a hundred years.
How does that happen? Well for one, you’re an outgoing, likable woman, so you have that going on for you. But there is another reason and it has to do with something called emotional intelligence. When you understand how useful it is for your career, your relationships, and even the way you remember things, it will transform you into a better woman.
- Take a look at what it means to have emotional intelligence and how you can start developing your own
- An important component of the process has to do with this one vital skill that you must get good at
- Enjoy some free guidance from three social media giants who want to help you understand your audience better
- Then I’ll share some great natural ways to help you keep your memory sharp for all this new information you will be trying to remember
- And go a little deeper in the way you connect with people with this simple, yet revealing little exercise
So what exactly is emotional intelligence? For starters, it’s realizing the role our emotions play in decision making and motivation. The intelligence part comes in when you are able to identify how they affect everything you do and learn to manage them with positive results.
You have to realize that your emotions are energies manifested by the body as signals for your brain. When you’re hungry, you eat. When you’re thirsty, you drink. When you’re tired, you sleep.
Those are the easy ones, but it’s often the complicated emotions like anger, sadness, hesitation, uncertainty, and many others that can cause problems. By establishing some qualities that strengthen your emotional intelligence, you can get a better handle on all of your feelings and even those of people around you.
- Be more empathetic, patient, and self-motivated when it comes to making decisions
- Focus on the positive, don’t dwell on the past, and embrace change as a new opportunity
- Set boundaries, create balance between work and play, and stop being a perfectionist
You can also increase your emotional intelligence by simply being a more active listener. It’s actually harder than it sounds because it requires that you avoid the temptation to talk about yourself or your business. That can be hard when you’re, you know, trying to grow it.
So why should you start listening so intently? Because it’s the best, and really the only way to learn what you need to know about your customer or audience.
By letting others have the floor you allow them to reveal information you may have otherwise never known had you been the one doing all the talking. Just remember to pay attention and keep any and all distractions from getting in the way.
Nothing is worse than forgetting someone’s name who you just talked to for forty five minutes.
That’s why it also helps to be inquisitive and ask follow up questions that relate to them and the business at hand. But don’t make it about you!
Another good way that you can analyze who it is that likes, shares, and talks about you and your business is your good old social media friends Twitter, Google, and Facebook.
In the piece, 3 Free Tools to Understand Your Audience and Quickly Grow Sales by writer Larry Kim, you can get a detailed look at what content of yours is most appealing and to who. Then you can better target them and scale your business based on that real data.
The best part is that this power is available for free and it’s easy to use! OK, so that is really like two parts, even better!
Now in order for you to keep all of this emotional intelligence from falling into the void of your memory, take a look at some of the best natural ways to improve it.
Staying active and maintaining friendships are two of the best and easiest ways to get started. I know that on my morning runs I am going to get done some of the best thinking I will all day, not to mention a health and energy boost.
Still working on the meditation, but GOALS! I have goals!
Sometimes though, it takes an exercise of a different type to provide you with a lasting experience you won’t soon forget. In the piece How You Can Connect Deeply With Anyone (In 5 Minutes) by writer Jennifer Sodini, you will see how a simple line of curious questions can reveal much more than you ever thought.
Spoiler alert: If you go through with the exercise, you can’t go back. But when you see what answers you find, you won’t want to ladies!
Far too many times we let our emotions rule our behavior. I love this article for just that reason. It is so important that we control our emotions. Thinking positive and not dwelling on any negative events of the past is a great way to start. Emotional intelligence is the key to leading a successful and happy life.
I think more women need to look more deeply into this. There are times when we can instantly connect with a man, but not really know why or how that happened. In this busy world, time is of the essence concerning everything, so we need to recognize these types of things almost instantly or we might lose out on a good thing
I needed to hear this message today. I have adult ADHD, and sometimes being an active listener can be a challenge. It is not out of rudeness, often I am just afraid I will lose my train of thought. It is a skill I truly desire to get better at.
This is very inspirational. I suffer from Fibromyalgia and some days my pain is so severe that I block everyone else around me out. I need to listen more. I need to be thankful for my amazing husband, wonderful children and adorable furbabies. In fact, if I focus on the positive, it might even help relieve my physical pain a little as well. Thank you!!!
I totally understand where you are coming from. Being a good active listener has always been a challenge for me too. I really need to work on this in order to improve myself.
Forgetting names – that’s the worst! I have tried a lot of different memory tricks, but nothing helps. I will definitely try the natural methods of improving my memory, since that goes to the underlying health aspect.
Not being a perfectionist is a hard one for me. It’s been something that I have been working on for a number of years now and it’s starting to get better. I love the idea of actively listening too because it makes that other person feel special.
Very true! There is a time and a place for being emotional, but we shouldn’t always base decisions on them. I almost made a very bad business decision last year because I was being emotional. It’s a good thing I came to my senses before it was too late.