So what is emotional intelligence?

And how can YOU use it in your career to be paid more and get promoted?

Today, I’ll show you how to do it.

The definition of emotional intelligence is your ability to recognize and control your emotions and behaviour, while being aware of how they impact and affect those around you.

In other words…

Being aware of how you react in certain situations, and how your reactions affect the people around you.

So do people walk away from a conversation with you feeling encouraged, inspired and motivated?

Or do they walk away feeling down, discouraged and depressed?

Of course it’s not quite as cut and dried as that.

So here’s 4 tips on how to recognize how you react in certain situations and how to improve your reactions, so the people around you consider you as someone who has a handle on any situation, whether the situation is difficult or not.

As Socrates famously said — Know thyself!

The more we learn about ourselves and how we react in situations, the more aware we are of ourselves, and by extension, the people around us.

So learn more about yourself.

Pay attention to how you react to situations at work and at home and ask yourself the question… is this a positive response in this situation?

If not, then what would a positive response be?

When you become aware of how you react to certain situations, you can modify your behaviour so you respond positively to the situation, not react negatively.

Ask people you know to describe you and how you react in different situations.

Now, this sort of feedback may be hard to swallow at times and you may feel like the people you ask are being hard on you, but your job is to stay quiet, not argue with them or challenge them about how you react to situations, and just listen to what they have to say.

You’re looking for THEIR feedback.

Also, you want get the feedback from people who will tell you the truth. You’ll only need to ask a few people for their feedback, for you to start to notice a pattern emerging.

So ask people to be honest with you. And don’t be offended by what they tell you!

Be specific with your questions and ask the same questions of each person you ask for feedback from.

And ask for honest and constructive feedback. In other words, you don’t want them to sugar coat what they tell you. You need to hear the good, the bad and the ugly!

If you’ve asked the same questions of each person you’ve asked for feedback from, you should see a pattern emerge from all the feedback you receive.

The patterns that emerge reflect how you are perceived by others, so take that feedback on board.

For the positive feedback, you don’t need to change obviously.

But for the negative feedback, think about how you can respond better in the situations where you’re not reacting well.

By paying attention and being aware of you how you react and then respond to situations, you can work on changing how you react to certain situations so you respond positively to even the most difficult situations.

So there are 4 tips to increase your emotional intelligence so you respond positively to situations that come up from time to time, both at work and at home.

Of course, if you’re looking for a new job or a pay rise or a promotion, then knowing what jobs are available and what they pay is what you need to know.

When you know what roles you can do and what they pay, you have a better understanding of what you’re worth in the marketplace.

The easiest way to do that is to use Connectzapp to find out what jobs are available and how much they’re paying.

So get Connectzapp on the App Store or Google Play or go to Connectzapp.com and get up to date with what you’re worth. You may be pleasantly surprised!

And lastly… good luck with your job hunting!