Improving Your Emotional Intelligence In a Day For Dummies

by Steven J. Stein

Overview

Learn to boost your emotional intelligence for success in life and business—in a day!

Learning to manage your emotions in difficult situations is one of the basic ways we can improve our lives and relationships. Improving Your Emotional Intelligence In a Day For Dummies uses relatable everyday moments to reveal how to deal with friends, family, and colleagues in healthier, more productive ways.

• Uses everyday examples of healthy ways to deal with stressful situations
• Written by a recognized expert on psychological assessment and emotional intelligence who is also the author of Emotional Intelligence For Dummies

This e-book also links to an online component at dummies.com that extends the topic into step-by-step tutorials and other "beyond the book" content.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781118538944
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	11/07/2012
Series:	In A Day For Dummies , #77
Sold by:	JOHN WILEY & SONS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	67
Sales rank:	305,583
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Dr. Steven Stein is a clinical psychologist and CEO of Multi-Health Systems (MHS), an internationally known psychological test publishing company. MHS is a three-time Profit 100 (fastest growing companies in Canada) winner.'A leading expert on psychological assessment and emotional intelligence, he has consulted to military and government agencies including the Canadian Forces, U.S. Air Force, Army, and Navy, special units of the Pentagon, FBI Academy, as well as corporate organizations including American Express, Air Canada, Canyon Ranch, Coca-Cola (Mexico), and professional sports teams. Dr. Stein is Chairperson of the Psychology Foundation of Canada. He is a former assistant professor in the psychiatry department at the University of Toronto and former adjunct professor of psychology at York University in Toronto.
He has appeared on over 100 TV and Radio shows including Canada AM, CBC's Fifth Estate, CTV, CBC and Global News, CBC Radio, MSNBC, and many others throughout Canada and the United States. He has also been quoted in numerous print media including the Globe and Mail, National Post and Toronto Star. Dr. Stein co-authored the international best-seller The EQ Edge: Emotional Intelligence and Your Success and is the author of the newly released Make Your Workplace Great: The 7 Keys to an Emotionally Intelligent Organization.
Dr. Stein has shared information on emotional intelligence with audiences throughout Canada, the United States, Mexico, Europe, Australia, and Asia.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

What You Can Do In A Day 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 2

Chapter 1: Assessing Your Emotional Intelligence 3

Feeling, Thinking, and Behaving Like an Emotionally Intelligent Person 3

Feeling like an emotionally intelligent person 4

Thinking like an emotionally intelligent person 5

Behaving like an emotionally intelligent person 7

Recognizing an Emotionally Unintelligent Person 8

Chapter 2: Measuring Emotional Intelligence 11

Gauging Emotional Intelligence 11

Making the Case for Emotional Intelligence 14

Understanding How EQ Tests Work 15

The EQ-i 15

The EQ-360 18

The MSCEIT 20

Chapter 3: Managing Your Emotions 23

Okay, I Feel Sad, Mad, or Bad — Now What? 23

Using cognitive restructuring to improve your mood 24

Using methods of distraction to help you feel better 28

Relaxation, meditation, and similar activities for emotional success 29

Progressive relaxation 29

Diaphragmatic or belly breathing 30

Acupressure 31

Purposeful distraction 32

Becoming more mindful 33

Working Your Way Out of a Bad Situation 34

Short-term approaches 34

Long-term solutions 36

Changing Your Emotions for the Better 37

Recognizing the importance of practice 38

Developing a positive psychology 38

Chapter 4: Managing Other People’s Emotions 41

Changing How You React to Others 42

Being aware of your gut reaction 42

Working through alternative responses 44

Managing the Emotions of Others 45

Identifying where other people are coming from 46

Establishing a realistic alternative behavior 47

Getting a person to want to change 49

Encountering Obnoxious People 50

Chapter 5: Using Empathy to Improve Your

Emotional Intelligence 53

Knowing the Difference between Empathy and Sympathy 54

Beginning with you, not I 54

Knowing why the difference is important 54

Reading Other People’s Emotions 56

Exploring Situations in Which Empathy Can Really Help You 58

Strengthening intimate relationships 59

Understanding friends and relatives 60

Dealing with tense situations that involve strangers 61

Chapter 6: Where to Go from Here 65

Taking Your First Steps 65

Visiting dummies.com 66