Can you recognise and respond to others’ emotions productively? Emotions are a natural response to almost everything.
Emotional Competence (EC) is more complicated than it sounds.
Our emotions tend to get the best of us.
“There is no separation of mind and emotions; emotions, thinking, and learning is all linked,” says Eric Jensen.
Emotional competence refers to the ability to identify and manage one’s own emotions, as well as the emotions of others.
It’s the ability to accurately identify, assess, and manage your emotions in the moment. It allows you to make decisions based on what you are feeling at the time, rather than your past experiences or memories.
It is an essential skill in interpersonal relationships, parenting, education, coaching, leadership, and counselling. It’s crucial for all forms of relationships.
It’s a key predictor of success in life.
A key component in our ability to succeed in life is being equipped with the tools necessary for success.
Most of us already have an intuitive sense of what it means to be emotionally competent.
An emotionally competent person has good self-esteem, knows how to regulate their own emotions and those of others, and can manage conflict successfully.
Your ability to understand and manage emotions can make you a better leader, colleague, friend, parent, and a more capable employee.
A high level of emotional competence is linked to healthy relationships, higher self-esteem, good leadership skills, and better job performance.
Emotional competence plays a significant role in how you see the world and respond to everything and everyone you interact with.
It also affects your decision-making process.
If you can cope with emotional responses effectively, you will live a healthy life and communicate better in your relationships.
“At a psychological level, higher trait EC is associated with greater well-being and higher self-esteem as well as a lower risk to develop psychological disorders,” said Delphine Nelis of the Department of Psychology at the University of Liege in Belgium, and lead author of the study.
Emotional competence is essential because it allows us to control our own emotions, which means we are less likely to do something out of anger or sadness.
It also allows us to read other people’s emotions better to respond helpfully.
Your ability to differentiate between feelings and label them appropriately can make or break your relationships.
Upgrade your emotional brain
“When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion.” — Dale Carnegie
Emotional competence is a skill anyone can learn.
It is a set of skills that you can improve through experience, practice, education, and self-awareness.
You can become emotionally competent by learning how to practice emotional regulation, which can be difficult at first.
But you can start by learning more about how you react and respond in your personal relationships.
Do you quickly react or take time to respond better even when you are stressed? Ask others for feedback and what you can do to improve your responses.
Observe how you interact with others and how your actions affect others. Self-evaluation can help you understand yourself more.
Practice self-awareness and reflect on your emotional responses. Improve your active listening skills.
When in doubt, pause and think before you react.
Keep practicing and expose yourself to experiences that will allow you to observe yourself more or be mindful of your emotional responses.
“Emotional competence is what we need to develop if we are to protect ourselves from the hidden stresses that create a risk to health, and it is what we need to regain if we are to heal,” writes Gabor Maté, in his book, When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress.
The ultimate goal of emotional competence is to use it as a tool for success in your relationships at home and work. It drives your ability to understand yourself, connect with others, and lead effectively.
Increasing your EC skills can help you make better decisions in situations that involve relationships, negotiation, conflict resolution, empathy, or leadership.
EC is a skill that has become increasingly important in our ever-changing world. A deep level of self-awareness and understanding about how you feel can help you regulate your emotions and behaviour.
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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.
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