1. Label their feelings, rather than labeling people or situations. |
"I feel impatient." vs. "This is ridiculous"
"I feel hurt and bitter". vs. "You are an insensitive jerk."
"I feel afraid." vs. "You are driving like a idiot." |
2. Distinguish between thoughts and feelings. |
Thoughts: I feel like ... & I feel as if... & 1 feel that Feelings:
I feel: (feeling word) |
3. Take responsibility for their feelings. |
"I feel jealous." vs. "You are making me jealous"' |
4. Use their feelings to help them make decisions. |
"How will I feel if I do this?" "How will I feel if I don’t" |
5. Show respect for other people's feelings |
They ask "How will you feel if I do this?" "How Will you feel if I don't." |
6. Feel energized, not angry. |
They use what others call "anger" to help them feel energized to take productive action. |
7. Validate other people's feelings. |
They show empathy, understanding, and acceptance of other people's feelings. |
8. Practice getting a positive value from their negative emotions. |
They ask themselves: "How do I feel?" and "What would help me feel better?"
They ask others "How do you feel?" and "What would help you feel better?" |
9. Don't advise, command, control, criticize, judge or lecture to others |
They realize it doesn't feel good to be on the receiving end of such behavior, so they avoid it. |
10. Avoid people who invalidate them, or don't respect their feelings. |
As much as possible, they choose to associate only with other people with high EQ. |