I think of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) as the awareness of how you are feeling at any given moment or in any situation. It is also the awareness that you may be making judgements about other people in response to those feelings. Self-regulation is how you choose (or choose not) to act or speak in relation to those feelings. I think it is fascinating that there is such a long list of words, 200 +, to describe one’s feelings. I had no idea.

In response to this revelation and to the average score on my own EQ test, I would like to improve my EQ by becoming aware of the entire list of words describing feelings. I think it would also be beneficial to remember to express those feelings in “I” statements and to remember that “You” statements are indications of judgements.