Emotional intelligence is not just showing empathy to others. It involves noticing facial expressions and other non-verbal communication to recognize how other people are feeling, and then adjusting yourself accordingly.

Have you ever wondered why you feel the way you do? Being able to recognize and understand your emotions can be the deciding factor in your successes — or failures. Surprisingly, many people are not self-aware and their performance and communication suffers.

So how can we begin to improve our emotional intelligence? By developing a greater awareness of ourselves.

Self-Concept

Your self-concept is your perception of you. Your perceptions come from your personal experiences, what you expect from yourself in the future, and what you believe your abilities are. If your self-concept is healthy, you are more likely to take on challenges, achieve goals you’ve set for yourself, and live more positively overall.

Explore your self-concept and if you don’t believe it’s healthy, make an effort to change how you perceive yourself. This may be easier for some people and much harder for others — but it is possible.

Thoughts

Our thoughts are tied to our emotions, so when we try to become more aware of our emotions, we must first understand our thoughts and thought processes. Throughout the day, take note of what you say about yourself, how you talk about yourself, and what you say about situations you encounter.

If you notice your thoughts are more negative, practice mindfulness to discover why your thoughts are that way. Then, after reflecting, try to have more positive thoughts or thought processes. You might have to force it — you might not even believe it! But over time, it will influence your thoughts to be more positive.

Feelings

How do you feel when you say things about yourself? What about when other people say things about you? No matter what your feelings are, you must identify which are associated with your thoughts and experiences.

Once you can identify those feelings, keep track of them and see if there are any patterns. Notice yourself starting down a negative pattern? Take steps to avoid continuing going down with it.

Body

Sometimes when we’re thinking, it comes with a physical response that other people may or may not notice! The next time you feel a physical response to an emotion, take a couple of minutes to think where in your body you feel the response. Do the feelings present in your facial expressions, heart rate, voice, or somewhere else? Is this the kind of physical response you want? If not, there are ways to retrain those knee-jerk reactions.

Emotions

Emotions are the most powerful factor in how we interact with others. People with higher levels of emotional intelligence are able to recognize and accept their varying emotional states. Knowing what emotional state you’re in can go a long way toward enhancing your professional and personal relationships!

If you fail to recognize these responses, you will find it difficult to process your emotions and move past them. By effectively managing these five elements, you will be able to control emotional outbursts and work toward much more effective communication and an overall healthier, happier demeanor.

The 5 Elements of Self-Awareness