Some people believe that psychology is only useful for dealing with issues such as childhood trauma. But the truth is that psychology has always been useful for helping people achieve their goals, maintain productivity, and most importantly, achieve happiness.
That’s why in this article I would like to discuss how concepts such as emotional intelligence and mindfulness can help in both our business and personal lives.
From my previous articles on this topic, you have already learned that emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage our own emotions and the emotions of others to achieve goals. In other words, developed emotional intelligence allows us to better understand our own feelings, regulate them according to tasks, scan and read people’s emotions, and manage their states as well, motivating or calming them when necessary. In the context of business communications, this solves a multitude of tasks – from effective management to successful negotiations, and most importantly, job satisfaction and stress management.
There are multiple ways to develop emotional intelligence, from reading literature on the subject to working with a psychologist. However, there’s one thing that will help most significantly: neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to change and reorganize itself throughout a person’s life in response to new experiences, learning, and adaptation.
Developing neuroplasticity benefits your thinking, perception, logic, memory, attention focus, analytical abilities, as well as stress management, resilience, and resilience. In my practice, it is one of the foundations of your psychological resilience, life satisfaction, and proper goal-setting aligned with your mission.
My recommendations for developing neuroplasticity are as follows:
Get a good amount of sleep
Healthy sleep is the foundation of all psychological tips.
For example, when you experience a headache upon waking up (excluding hangovers), it means that your system did not have enough time to flush out all the toxins from the brain overnight, and you need more quality sleep. Without proper sleep these toxins will accumulate and damage your brain, reducing neuroplasticity and affecting all everything you do.
It’s also worth noting that when people die from sleep deprivation after two weeks or so, they don’t actually die from “fatigue” or a heart attack—they die from a stomach hemorrhage. This is because your brain works with internal systems that regulate, support, and cleanse your body as you sleep. Now think twice before going to sleep with a gadget, scrolling through your Instagram feed or going on a sleepless bender.
Challenge your brain
Try to challenge your brain with new tasks and experiences. Train it. If you let it be lazy and cater to its desires, you will turn into a relaxed Labrador whose goal is only to eat, sleep, and occasionally play.
New experiences can even be as simple as putting yourself in the middle of great scenery. An interesting fact is that even in grief therapy, one of the methods of assistance is enjoying experiences related to beauty. It can be the beauty of nature (like going on a hike) or culture (going to the museum). It’s up to you to decide what is closer to you.
Practice mindfulness
“Be in the moment” may sound cliché, but it actually refers to a physical state opposite to multitasking and scattered attention. It is trained through meditation and conscious actions, such as slow eating without distractions from gadgets, reading, or conversations. Focus your attention on the process of chewing and analyzing the taste of food. Additionally, try to spend at least 2 hours a week alone with yourself and your thoughts.
Try to get out of autopilot mode—brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand, change your usual route to work, go to a movie theater, or watch any movie without choosing. This shocks your brain and forces it to build new connections.
Body scanning meditation can also help, where you stop at each part of your body, taking deep breaths. Mindfulness meditation itself is also different from concentration meditation because it allows you to experience all kinds of feelings while being aware of them, accepting them, and returning to the meditation process.
These few tips from mindfulness practice will help you develop neuroplasticity, which is the foundation of developed emotional intelligence that will lead you to a successful, efficient, and, most importantly, happy life.
If you are interested in this topic and want to learn more and practice exercises for assessing and developing emotional intelligence and mindfulness, I invite you to a Masterclass that I will be running.
- Discover the transformative power of emotional intelligence and mindfulness techniques in this engaging masterclass
- Gain valuable insights and strategies for reshaping organizational culture through the development of emotional intelligence
- Elevate your personal effectiveness, find work-life harmony, and unleash your limitless potential.
To book a slot, just scan any of the two QR codes above and remit your payment. Otherwise, you can contact KMC Solution in One Ayala for any queries.
You may also register for the free online Pre-Masterclass Session: “Emotional Intelligence: Understand Yourself to Understand Others” by sending a WhatsApp message with “EI” to +79626224743.
Don’t miss this opportunity to unlock personal and professional growth through the power of mindfulness! I look forward to seeing you at the Masterclass!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anna Kravtcova is a Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology and is internationally certified with EuroPsy or European Certificate in Psychology (2021). She is a member of several respectful international business psychology societies including the International Society for Emotional Intelligence (2017), and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) – a division of the American Psychological Association or APA (2011).
Anna is a speaker at conferences all around the world (USA, Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Czech Republic, Russia, etc.), and did a TED talk on Emotional Intelligence. She has extensive managerial experience across various positions including as HR director (500 employees), COO (6 tech startups), CEO (17 hotels and restaurants), and managing partner of an international consulting company (36 consultants, 150+ clients around the world).
If you’ve watched “Billions” on Netflix, she is “Wendy” in real life.