Emotional intelligence is something that each person has to one degree or another. It involves our understanding of our own emotions and how they affect our interactions with other people. It also involves our ability to understand the emotions of other people. Since emotional intelligence affects how we interact with people in personal and professional encounters, it’s important to cultivate your own emotional intelligence.

Pay Attention to Your Reactions
Observing how you react to others can give you great insight into your own emotional intelligence. If you tend to make quick judgments or mistrust the motives of others immediately, these may be reactions that you’ll want to work to improve. You can do that by attempting to be more empathetic. When you make an effort to understand what the other individual is feeling, you can respond to them with a more tempered reaction.

Alter Your Professional Demeanor
You can also grow your emotional intelligence by making an effort to change how you interact in the workplace. Rather than looking for others to validate your achievements, learn how to be content with your own pride in your work. Try to praise others for their accomplishments instead of looking for ways to get more attention for yourself.

Identify Your Weaknesses
Take some time for yourself and perform some self-contemplation. You should make a list of your weaknesses to help you find aspects of your personality that you want to improve. For example, what do you do if you feel overly stressed? If you dislike the way you respond to stress, look for healthier coping mechanisms. Learn how to stay calm and control your reactions to situations that cause you to overreact or respond with emotion.

Take Responsibility
When you do act rashly, you should be just as quick to take responsibility for misguided actions. If you cause someone to feel emotionally wounded, make an effort to apologize. If your reaction to something makes a situation worse, make an effort to resolve the situation as favorably as possible.

You can continue to grow your emotional intelligence by maintaining a conscious recognition of how your feelings affect your actions. This involves predicting or anticipating how your emotional response will affect someone with whom you’re interacting. Modify your response to be less emotion-based when necessary to obtain the desired outcome in any situation.