Emotional intelligence activities and exercises are attempts to build, develop, and maintain one's Emotional Intelligence (EI). Many people are interested in improving their IE, for a variety of reasons. Some of the most common reasons for working on your EI include: wanting to be successful, fit in with society, make new friends, or improve at any level in life.
Also, many people want to improve their EI simply to understand themselves and the people they interact with on a deeper level. There is no downside to being more emotionally intelligent, and the benefits can be numerous. If you also want to improve your emotional intelligence but don't know where to start, then don't miss these activities to help you get an idea of how to get started.
First: tips on Emotional Intelligence tools
Whether you want to build your own emotional intelligence, motivate or teach your children, improve your work, or for any other reason, there are many activities, tools, and resources that you can use. But before, It is important that you do not miss these tips before applying the activities in your life.
Tips to improve your own emotional intelligence
If your goal is to increase your own emotional intelligence or to help your clients increase their emotional intelligence (for example, any IE work on an individual level), keep these seven tips in mind:
- Reflect on your own emotions;
- Ask others for their perspective;
- Be an observer (of your own emotions);
- Use "pause" (for example, take a moment to think before speaking);
- Explore the "why" (close the gap by taking someone else's perspective);
- When they criticize you, don't be offended. Instead, ask yourself: What can I learn?
- Practice, practice, practice
Tips to improve the emotional intelligence of teams
If what you are looking for is to improve the emotional intelligence of your team, keep these 7 tips in mind:
- Have a leader
- Identify the strengths and weaknesses of team members
- Put passion in what you do
- Build team norms
- Develop creative ways to manage stress
- Allow team members to have a voice
- Encourage employees to work and play together
In addition, there are three factors that are absolutely essential for the success of a work group:
- Trust between members
- A sense of group identity
- A sense of group efficacy
If it seems to you that these three factors are strongly associated with emotional intelligence, you are right! You can't have an emotionally intelligent team without emotionally intelligent members, But it takes more than that: you need emotionally intelligent norms and values, the right team atmosphere, and the will to build group emotional intelligence. To do that, you will need:
- Understanding and regulation of emotions at the individual level
- Understanding and managing emotions at the group level
- Awareness and willingness to work with emotions outside the group.
You'll need to make sure you keep these three levels in mind as you work on building the emotionally intelligent team. Remember it's not just about the people on the team, but how they interact with each other and with those outside the group.
Activities to enhance emotional intelligence in adults
Write an emotional journal
After you know what the name of each emotion is and when it appears and why, it is time to start writing an emotional journal. It is the best way to be aware of the emotions you feel every day. You only need about 10-15 minutes a day, and it is best to do it before going to sleep. You will be able to review how your day has gone on an emotional level.
If for example you have felt sad or immensely happy, write it down. In this way you can think about how to behave in the future to avoid excess negative emotions. You will be able to better understand how you feel, why, and what to do in the future to improve your attitude.
the wheel of life
The wheel of life is an effective technique that will help you to know yourself and be able to correct what does not make you feel good or happy. You will only need 20 minutes a day and it is easier than you think. You will be able to know what your wants and needs are, being able to feel the power you have over your life. Write down what you really want and what is most important to you right now.
Now you will have a clearer vision about the objectives that you have to achieve from outside your head. This is important to help the mind put distance between these thoughts and the acting thoughts.
You should write the areas of your life that are important to you and that you want to improve to have a better quality of life. It can be work, friends, your partner, your children, family, leisure, etc. Then you will have to think about the variables that that area has and write down scores for each variable, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the least important and 10 being the most important. When you have the order of preference, then you can begin to write down the actions that you will use to improve the quality of your life and that everything begins to roll properly.
Stop for a minute!
You only need 1 full minute to regulate yourself emotionally and to be able to have better interpersonal relationships with others. Imagine that you are somewhere with the atmosphere very tense and that everything is getting out of hand. In these moments it is more than necessary to stop a minute (or more), clear your mind and respond more with your head than with your heart to that situation of tension.
With one minute you can learn to relax and control intense emotions by meditating for those 60 seconds. Once you perfect the technique, you can use it anytime, anywhere. If you feel a lot of tension, then more than 1 minute it is better to take 5 minutes of emotional rest and return to serenity. With these tips and activities you will increase your emotional intelligence almost without realizing it.