2 Emotional intelligence How would you like to increase your emotional intelligence? The following exercises are aimed to help you expand your EQ through developing each of the four components of the ability model. Try them out over the upcoming week.

Perceiving: The next time you are talking with a friend, make sure you take the time to see if his or her facial expressions match the conversation. If you are happy all the time, don’t assume that others are. Take the time to look and listen.

Using: The next time you go to write an essay, take heed of the scientific findings that positive moods enable creative thinking whereas neutral moods enhance editing and analytical thinking. Use this knowledge in your writing-up process.
Understanding: The next time you are angry, stop and write down why you feel this. Try to follow that emotion back as far as it will go. The anger may be an emotion that started out as hurt or sadness. Trace the chain of emotions to get to the source of the problem.
Managing: The next time you feel like immediately exploding with anger, think about whether or not this is the appropriate emotion to display given the situation you are in. We need to manage our emotions and regulate them so that they are expressed in appropriate social contexts. Reflect on your thoughts and how you actually handled the situation.