We all have feelings and emotions, but sometimes we forget to think before we act, letting our emotions control us. While emotions are very important in decision making, thinking through things is also important! Combining thinking with our emotions is what makes up emotional intelligence - a way to help us understand ourselves and others better!

The Five Parts of Emotional Intelligence

1. Knowing your Emotions
This means recognising your feelings as they happen. Try to notice when you feel happy, sad, or scared - this will help you with decision-making and understanding yourself!

2. Managing your Emotions
This means handling your emotions so they are appropriate to your situation. For example, I might be able to scream in excitement around my friends, but I might get some funny looks if I did it in a quiet room!

3. Motivating Yourself
This means managing your emotions to help you get to a goal. The more excited you get about doing something you are, the more motivation you will have - a great tool to get things done!

4. Recognising Emotions in Others
Understanding how other people feel is a great way to make deep friendships. If you do this well, you can pick up little hints about what your friends need and help them out!

5. Handling Relationships
This means getting to understand social situations and figuring out how to talk to others politely and comfortably! This is not only fun, but also a great skill to have for leadership roles.

 

Which part of emotional intelligence are you best at?