This is a guest post written by Sara Fletcher, If you want to contribute guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines and join our information sharing program.

Practice makes perfect

You have probably heard this old adage hundreds of times and in all facets of life. Practice is the key to improving upon any skill whether it is your homerun swing or your emotional intelligence skills at the office. But sometimes you just don’t have the opportunity to practice the skill you want to improve. Most likely, the most challenging situations you face at the office do not occur on a daily basis. So how then do we practice our emotional intelligence skills so that we are prepared to respond appropriately when the tough situation arises ?

One quick and easy way to practice your emotional intelligence skills is to visualize the difficult situations you might face at work. This may sound silly at first but in fact, the human brain responds the same to visualizing an event and to actually experiencing the event. So you can train your brain to respond to situations without actually needing to be in the situation. After enough time visualizing, when the real event happens your brain will be more likely to automatically respond with the correct response that you had practiced.

People in all industries use this strategy, even professional athletes visualize themselves performing successfully before they are in the actual game. If you cannot picture yourself doing something successfully the odds of you being able to perform well in the heat of the moment are very slim. To improve your emotional intelligence skills spend some time each day visualizing that situation at work that makes you feel heated or that person who you can’t seem to stay calm around. Visualize every aspect of the situation, the setting, the people involved, and allow yourself to fully experience all of the emotions that you usually feel in this situation. Pay attention to the emotional reactions that are not helpful in that situation so you know which ones you should try to modify.

Then picture yourself staying calm without letting your emotional response hijack your rational self. Visualize yourself correcting the extreme emotional reactions you usually let take control. It is still all right to feel upset or angry, but picture yourself staying in control of which emotional reaction you are expressing and how you are expressing it. There is a time and place for all emotions so it is important to know when an emotional outburst would be inappropriate and visualize yourself controlling that urge.

The more time that you spend picturing yourself staying in control the more likely you will be able to effectively manage the situation when it arises. Being able to keep your cool will allow you have be more effective in the situation and lead to more productivity. You will not waste time on an emotional blow up if you have practiced the ways that you will remain in control of your emotions. Practicing encounters with particularly challenging individuals will allow you to have positive interactions with these individuals and maintain a productive working relationship. Just remember – even if these tough situations are few and far between you can always practice your emotional intelligence skills by visualizing it so you are ready when the time comes.

Author Bio :- Sara Fletcher is interested in taking her emotional intelligence test online and how it relates to every aspect of our lives. She loves to explore psychology, business, and sports in relation to emotional intelligence training.