Why is emotional awareness important?

 “Self-awareness is the first component of emotional intelligence,” and it helps people “recognize how their feelings affect them, other people, and their job performance” (Goleman, 2018, p. 1).

An emotionally aware person likely (Goleman, 1995, 2018):

• Knows that tight deadlines bring out the worst in them, plans early, and puts in place the resources needed before the pressure hits.
• Has a good understanding of their goals and values and is clear on where they are heading and why. They change jobs when they realize that their career no longer aligns with their values.
• Examines their feelings and states openly when they can’t get behind a decision at work. They can assess themselves honestly and point out when their opinions have changed.

• What is social-emotional awareness?

• The social aspect of emotional awareness allows us to understand others, recognize their feelings, and act successfully in our relations with them. Examples of social-emotional awareness in practice include (Goleman, 1995):

  • Organizing groups
    Initiating and coordinating their actions
  • Negotiating solutions
    Reducing the likelihood of conflict and resolving it when unavoidable
  • Personal connection
    Reading emotions, displaying empathy, and being good at forming relationships with others
  • Social analysis
    Identifying and showing insight regarding others’ needs and motives

  • How to Improve Emotional Awareness

    Once we understand the nature of emotional awareness, we can foster it and use the insights gained to improve how we perform and relate to others in our professional and private lives.

  • Your Best Work Self

    Robert Kaplan (2018) suggests that it is vital for professionals to understand what they love about their career. What fuels their passion?

    Your Best Work Self is an exercise that can help you think back to a time at work or elsewhere when you performed at your best.

    You may have gotten out of the habit of thinking about and remembering when things went well. But with practice, you will recall many such occasions and can use them to become more aware of what factors and emotions affected your happiness and performance (Kaplan, 2018).

    Emotional Mental Models

    Visualizing and reflecting on how you would cope with different situations can offer further insight into your emotions.

    Use the Emotional Mental Models worksheet to improve emotional awareness by visualizing yourself in imagined situations. Such as:

    • You have one year left to live.
    • You have enough money to do anything with your life.
    • You are guaranteed success in any profession you choose.
    • You are telling your grandchildren how you spent your life.
    • Your older self is telling your younger self what to do.

    Think about how you could use such emotional insight in the future.

    Recognize emotional patterns

    Improving emotional awareness can be helped by learning how to recognize emotional patterns: “when you have been hooked by your thoughts and feelings” (David & Congleton, 2018, p. 67).

    While this is not always easy, with practice we can learn to recognize telltale signs.

    Reflect over the last week and ask yourself:

    • When have my thinking and emotional responses been most rigid?
    • When has my inner talk felt old and repetitive?

    Improve emotional awareness by identifying when you are stuck in a rut, as it can help you initiate change and break free.

  • Label your feelings

    In the heat of the moment, especially when a lot is going on, our minds can become crowded with thoughts and feelings (David & Congleton, 2018).

    The simple act of labeling our emotions can help us take a step back and look at how we feel more objectively.