Here is the fifth part my happiness series. We already discussed physical intelligence, creative intelligence, mental intelligence, emotional intelligence and spiritual intelligence.
I have something to say.
You know already who you are, what you want and you have learned how to live from your feelings, but now you find that it is not all about you. Social relationships do not revolve strictly around you, but are interpersonal and interactive. You start to take into account the other person’s vulnerabilities, affinities and learn how to respond to that. You are starting to obtain social intelligence.
Social intelligence is the ability to understand and manage people and to act wisely in human relations. Social intelligence is what makes people succeed in life. This means that you understand what is happening in the world and respond to this understanding in a personal and social manner.
Social intelligence has all to do with wisdom, and nothing with smartness, and communication is the key in this fifth step to happiness. You learn how to use your voice, express emotions and use body language, because these all affect the behavior of others, just as laughter, anger, praise and honesty affect others.
Insecurity and doubt are the pitfalls of building social intelligence. Do you really have something useful to say? Do others want to listen? Start by yourself. Sing in the shower, laugh in a traffic jam, learn how to use your voice and let emotions run free.
Deepak Chopra
If you ‘are’ not social intelligent, you can learn how to be so. Developing social intelligence means changing how you interact with other people, and then turn this into habits. This takes attention and practice, while new neural circuits are formed in your brain.
Start to speak to others with respect and compassion and demonstrate a genuine interest in others. Develop empathy by imagining how someone is feeling. Try not to focus on your own thoughts or discomfort, but be fully present and try to understand other people’s emotions by noting facial expressions, body language and tone.
When you are socially intelligent, you can assess your relationships better and create a nice platform for social interaction. Also, you can be more assertive, because you know how to express emotions more clearly to others. Other people will catch on to these emotions and respond to it as you intended. With your new social confidence, you will be able to help others and share your knowledge.
You can’t go through these steps in a single day. Many people need more than a lifetime to get only halfway through these steps. The next step in the series will be about developing individual intelligence: What is good for us?
Comments 1
You could say that you learn all the other forms of intelligence for the purpose of being social. I mean what good would it do to be all happy with yourself and your circumstances and have nobody to share or enjoy it with. Great series!
Posted 05 Aug 2009 at 9:23 pm ¶Post a Comment