Self-awareness and emotional intelligence are closely linked and when you have one, you’re likely to have the other. Let’s define the two, look at how they compliment each other, and how they can help you live a happier life.
The Definition of Self-Awareness
The ability to get to know yourself so well that you understand and are able to control how you feel, think, and behave in order to move your life in a positive, deeply meaningful direction with an intimate knowledge of who you really are deep inside.
The Definition of Emotional Intelligence
The ability to recognize, experience, understand, and modulate your own and others’ emotions, thoughts, and behaviors.
As you can see, these two concepts have a lot in common because they both refer to the ability to know yourself well enough to live a happy life instead of doing stuff that aggravates you and others. I’ve worked with a lot of people over the years to help them increase their self-awareness and emotional intelligence, here are some of the things they look at in order to grow and succeed:
- Healing the unresolved, painful, or hurtful issues from their childhoods.
- Taking an honest look at what they’re doing that doesn’t work.
- Learning and practicing new, positive thoughts and behaviors.
- Realizing emotions are positive and learning how to feel them.
- Discovering who they really are deep inside and doing the things they love.
- Living life authentically, from their hearts.
- Practicing love, kindness, compassion, caring, both toward themselves and others.
- Doing the hard work necessary to become healthy, including going to therapy for as long as it takes.
- Having the courage to live life as their real selves.
Self-aware people possess emotional intelligence and vice versa. There is no mystery behind either concept, they just require work and a dedication to learn how to deal with emotions, thoughts, and actions. The end result of developing both is that you get to enjoy a wonderful life being the real, healthy you.
Cheers,
Guy