In the last decade or so, science has discovered a tremendous amount about the role emotions play in our lives. Researchers have found that even more than IQ, your emotional awareness and abilities to handle feelings will determine your success and happiness in all walks of life, including family relationships. ~John Gottman

Because I believe in the power of Emotional Intelligence and because I want you to rip the many benefits that come with it, here are 4 easy and practical ways through which you can increase your emotional intelligence:

1. Increase Self Awareness Through Journaling

I used to think journaling was a childish activity but now I look at journaling as a powerful tool that can help you you discover more about yourself, your thoughts and emotions.

Journaling helps put things in perspective, allowing you to become more aware who you are, what you want from life and WHY you want the things you want. It helps you get in touch with your own feelings, intuition and emotions, and also of those you interact with. Journaling and the process of writing has helped me so much over the years and I recommend it to everyone 🙂

2. Meditation

Today, after almost 3 years, I am happy to say that I meditate every single day (3 times a day for a total of 90 minutes) and I love every minute of it… You can read here more on how I got started with meditation.

Give yourself the gift of silence. There is so much beauty and so much power that comes your way the moment you get into the practice of meditation. Spend at least 5 minutes per day meditating and your life will be transformed.

3. Avoid Emotional Hijacking

Whenever you are faced with an upsetting situation, seek to respond instead of react. Take a few deep breaths and before opening your mouth, mentally count to 10 if it helps and do your best to avoid emotional hijacking.

Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. ~Viktor E. Frankl

4. Use Present Language

Use words like: I am feeling, I am doing, I am enjoying. Focus more on the present moment, on what you are doing right now and less on what happened/ might happen in the future. Work on becoming present in your day to day life. By doing so, your emotional intelligence will increase. You will also become a lot more peaceful and a lot happier.

With the past, I have nothing to do; nor with the future. I live now. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Have you learned how to enjoy and appreciate the present moment? Have you discovered how to respond to emotions instead of React? Share your insights by joining the conversation in the comment section bellow.

This post was inspired by a lecture given at Harvard by Shawn Achor, the author of one of my favorite books, The Happiness Advantage

With all my love,

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