By Bianka Varga
The PCL Team hope you and your loved ones are staying safe.
The previous few weeks have been demanding for all of us, giving us hardship and challenges we’ve never imagined before. Still, some people seem to thrive in this kind of climate and consciously try their best to make the most out of this extraordinary situation while others may succumb to self-despair, constant complaining and ruminating about the worst-case outcomes.
We’ve collected some expert survival tips using the EQ-i 2.0, The Emotional Quotient Inventory (Multi Health Systems), one of the most popular assessments worldwide for Emotional Intelligence. Here are our top 5:
1) Establish mutually satisfying relationships within your community
Now it’s more important than ever to foster and appreciate our relationships. Throughout history, humans have always relied on their capacity to survive through a remarkable level of cooperation and maximising the benefits that a community offers. It doesn’t just apply to recognising the value of relationships and supporting others as needed but also includes the ability to gracefully accept support when it’s offered. Use your Interpersonal skills (Interpersonal Relationships, Empathy and Social Responsibility) to develop and maintain your emotionally supportive alliances that act as a cushion in these unprecedented times – a supportive buffer if you will. Continue (or maybe start?) to invest time and energy in strengthening your connection with others. That includes helping out your fellow peers instead of waiting for them to support you – ask around how you can help in your immediate environment, pick up the phone or organise an online meeting to check up on people around you!
2) Look at the brighter side and maintain a positive attitude
Optimism is one of the most crucial skills you can have as more optimistic individuals show higher level of resilience in the face of setbacks and don’t allow themselves to resign into disappointment when things don’t go as planned. It involves feelings of hopefulness and resilience in the face of challenges. Hope provides us with something to look forward to in the future – however small or large that “something” might be. Knowing that things definitely can and will be better in the future is a powerful motivator to fight through chaos and complexity.
3) See things objectively and read situations accurately
Although Optimism is an important element, make sure it’s appropriately tied to Reality Testing – our ability to read and process the surroundings accurately. The amount of information on the news, internet and social media about COVID-19 is overwhelming, persistent and sometimes contradictory. Make sure you check the reliability of your source, do your research and gather relevant information instead of taking any piece of information immediately at face value. It will also be useful to take in information with context in mind – the data cited may be useless to think about when we aren’t taking into account the total population size or total expenditure of the nation, for example. Try to elicit views from others in order to get a balanced perspective – in a nutshell, be a little bit sceptical!
4) Be an early adopter
The new lifestyle we have had to adopt in such a short time has forced us to throw some of our routines and common practices out the window. Flexibility allows us to roll with the punches, pivot quickly or adapt gracefully when a new direction is needed in order to succeed. Individuals who don’t use their Flexibility skills to their advantage find it difficult to change their personal strategies that have proven successful in the past and can become overly attached to familiar ways of thinking and behaving. The current situation offers us the opportunity to realise that there are multiple different, yet valid ways to reach the exact same goal – so be open and tolerant to different ideas, ways and practices.
5) Stay calm and maintain control
Use your Stress Tolerance to filter out the aspects you can’t control and have to accept so you can focus on aspects that you can control or influence. Often people get caught up in negative cycles concentrating on things they can’t change or control. Try to think of actions you can do to address the controllable variables – this will help you use your energy and resources in a more productive way. Is there anything you can do about restrictions and new regulations? Not really…Do you have any control over your own behaviours and reactions? You most certainly do!
Interested in receiving EI-focused coaching, deepening your knowledge of emotional intelligence or becoming EQi & EQ-360 trained?
Our team of expert psychometricians and consultants can answer any questions you may have and you can contact us on 01892 559 540 or info@psychological-consultancy.com.
Stay tuned for further chapters from the PCL Survival Kit.