New week, new EI attribute - let’s talk about social awareness.
In any kind of situation, whether professional or personal, success and well-being largely depend upon how you manage and communicate with people. Social awareness is the ability to know and feel the people around you and the ability to interact with them in the most efficient and proper manner. In a nutshell, we can say that having social awareness means being able to appropriately deal with societal, as well as interpersonal, problems and struggles (Mindvalley 2018).
Today we are going to focus on one of the key components of social awareness:
Empathy is the ability to recognize, understand, and share the thoughts and feelings of another person. Developing empathy is crucial for establishing relationships and behaving compassionately. It involves experiencing another person’s point of view, rather than just one’s own, and enables prosocial, or helping behaviors that come from within, rather than being forced. (Psychology Today)
Check out this super interesting article from the New York Times covering the following topics:
📍 What is empathy and why it is important
📍 Easy, evidence-based exercises & quizzes to increase your empathy
o Talk to new people
o Try out someone else’s life & join forces for a shared cause
o Admit you're biased & be honest with yourself
o Check your privilege
o Stand up for others
o Read books
o Learn to be quiet & listen
Practice these skills often. When you take an interest in what others think, feel and experience, you'll develop a reputation for being caring, trustworthy and approachable.