80. Emotional Intelligence: 10 Tips to Improve Your EQ

In Leap of Fate Pod 80, we share actionable tips for Emotional Intelligence: 10 Tips to Improve Your EQ that will help you start making emotions work for you, instead of against you.
Emotional intelligence (also known as emotional quotient or EQ) is the ability to understand, use, and manage your own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict.
This is follow-up to Leap of Fate Pod 79 where we discuss goal setting
Below are 10 tips for you to connect with your feelings, turn intention into action, and make informed decisions about what matters most to you.
1. The 25/5 Rule:
The idea behind the 25/5 rule is that we often get distracted by things that are interesting but that prevent us from making progress on the more important things. Success means learning to say no, so you can say yes to the things that matter most.
2. Writing in reverse:
Writing in reverse is simple: You have to reverse your role as the writer (of an email, a report, a landing page, etc.) with the role of the recipient (your audience). How will what you send be received by the intended audience?
3. The golden question
The golden question is actually five questions in one. When you need to make a decision but you feel your emotions taking over, ask yourself:
How will I feel about this in:
a day?
a week?
a month?
a year?
five years?
4. The 5-minute rule:
Make a deal with yourself to work on a task for just five minutes. If you want to quit after that, no problem. This tricks your brain into seeing larger tasks as small ones.
5. The rule of clocking out:
If you're anything like me, you view work as a priority. But how do you balance that priority with even more important priorities, like your family, or your mental health?
Set working times for every day, and when the end of the day comes, clock out.
6. The rule of writing:
The rule of writing has many benefits: It clarifies your thinking, improves memory and understanding, and helps you communicate better.
7. The five-step rule against procrastination:
How you can break away from the nasty procrastination habit.
8. The 3-Question rule:
There are three things you must always ask yourself before you say anything.
Does this need to be said?
Does this need to be said by me?
Does this need to be said by me, now?
9. The rule of reappraisal:
Whenever you feel unproductive, stuck in a rut, or simply afraid of what's ahead, you must remember the rule of reappraisal:
Don't focus on the path ahead. Look back at how far you've come. This simple shift in perspective can change frustration into contentment, anxiety into appreciation.
10. First things first:
Narrow your task list down to only two or three items, max. Then, focus only on the first one and start chipping away.
Use these learnings of Emotional intelligence to build stronger relationships, succeed at school and work, and achieve your career and personal goals!

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