Schools and colleges deliver the right knowledge and tools to help you excel in your field. But some abilities are not taught in school, yet they are extremely valuable in your professional career, relationships, and social orientation. One of those abilities is emotional intelligence (EI).
Emotional intelligence refers to the ability of a person to detect, analyze, and control their emotions as well as of others. Emotionally intelligent people can quickly comprehend social and emotional cues and react to a certain situation to receive a favorable outcome. These people show high levels of empathy, compassion, and support to the people around them. Emotional intelligence is an important component of social intelligence which boosts a person’s capability to enhance personal and professional relationships, improve communication, boost teamwork, and improve productivity under stressful situations.
Emotional intelligence can offer you an advantage in school and set you up for success. Students can benefit from emotional intelligence to handle various social and emotional hurdles that come with being a student, such as perfectionism, issues with peer relationships, and fitting in. This article discusses the significance of emotional intelligence for adult learners and how they can improve their emotional intelligence capabilities.
How Can Students Improve Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence can be an extremely useful tool for adult learners, assisting them in facing various academic challenges and positioning themselves for long-term success. It’s particularly important for adult learners who take on challenging career paths such as nursing.
Emotionally intelligent nurses can connect with patients properly, communicate effectively, and deliver compassionate care, even in the most challenging and stressful situations. That’s why nursing programs like the NP psychology or MSN mental health degree focus on developing emotional intelligence abilities in nurse practitioners.
Yet, it’s pertinent to mention that emotional intelligence is a continuous process. As with natural IQ, students can develop emotional intelligence abilities over time through various techniques, including practicing mindfulness, incorporating self-reflection, or undergoing training sessions and therapies.
Since adult learners are preparing for a future career packed with unique challenges, competition, workload stress, and quick decision-making, they must build emotional intelligence skills throughout their educational journey.
Boost yourself more on Emotional Intelligence
Here are seven reasons why adult learners should develop and hone emotional intelligence abilities ;
1. Academic Performance
Mindfulness is an essential trait of people with emotional intelligence. It is the state of mind wherein a person tends to focus on the present moment. Since people with emotional intelligence practice mindfulness, they can focus more on their studies, assignments, and other tasks, directly influencing their academic performance.
Students with high levels of emotional intelligence are more attentive, motivated, and resilient. They can better regulate their emotions and remain focused in the face of stress, distractions, and unfavorable circumstances, which translates into better grades.
2. Relationships
As a student, you will certainly engage with various people, including classmates, instructors, university or college management, and others. Students frequently need to work in groups for collective assignments and projects. An emotionally intelligent student has the right skill set to build genuine trust and bonding with teammates. As team leaders, adult learners can inspire and mentor their team members and develop team cohesion.
Developing emotional intelligence can help adult learners form stronger connections with team members, classmates, teachers, and administration. All it takes to be socially intelligent is communicating effectively, managing problems, and demonstrating sympathy and compassion to others.
3. Self-Awareness
Emotional intelligence is deeply connected to self-awareness. In effect, self-awareness forms the foundation of emotional intelligence. It is a person’s understanding of their emotions and how they may impact their performance. It is the ability to comprehend emotions and thoughts and how they drive your actions.
Students aware of their own emotions and their impact on academic performance can make better judgments, establish short-term and long-term goals in life, set more realistic objectives, and have higher self-esteem. Through self-realization, they can discover their potential and how to fulfill their objectives.
4. Stress Management
University and college life can be extremely stressful for adult learners. They must strike a balance between studies, classes, and personal life. There is additional pressure on those working side-by-side to manage their finances.
Since emotionally intelligent students are already aware of their emotions and potential, they exercise greater control over their lives as students, family members, and employees. They can readily cope with stress because they better understand and control their emotions.
5. Career Readiness
Professional life is all about aligning organizational goals with your objectives and connecting your professional success to the employer you’re working with. Employers are always searching for emotionally intelligent individuals who can demonstrate emotional stability under stressful corporate environments and show empathy and compassion to others.
Employers respect emotional intelligence abilities such as self-awareness, effective communication, self-regulation, flexibility toward others, and self-motivation. Adult learners with emotional intelligence abilities can gain a competitive advantage in the employment market and prepare themselves for a stellar career in the future.
6. Motivation
Motivation is essential for adult learners who want to excel in their academic and professional careers. Emotionally intelligent students are naturally self-motivated. They can motivate themselves, their team members, and other people connected to their lives to achieve objectives and confront obstacles and setbacks.
They are great problem-solvers and take risks where required. Their enthusiasm and passion drive others toward collective goals and responsibilities. When students demonstrate motivation as team players or team leaders, they exert their influence to elevate the team’s morale.
Adult learners with emotional intelligence capabilities carry this trait in their professional lives. They’re eager to seek feedback and track their academic or career development. Due to high motivation levels, they often challenge themselves to high-level tasks and continuously strive to improve their abilities.
7. Empathy
Empathy is another important element of emotional intelligence that can be extremely beneficial for adult learners. When adult students can emotionally connect with people and consider their feelings, worries, and points of view, they can become a productive part of their team. They can also effectively engage in conflict resolution and crisis management. It’s a useful ability to have while dealing with diverse students or team members in your academic journey.
Empathy is essential for embracing and respecting other people’s perspectives to solve challenges and devise inventive solutions. Students who demonstrate empathy can significantly increase team cohesion and foster a collaborative learning culture.
Final Thoughts
Emotional intelligence is important for all adult learners as it helps them succeed in academic and professional careers alongside social relationships. While some individuals are born with these traits, others can develop these capabilities over time through their experiences or by practicing certain techniques such as mindfulness and self-regulation.
These techniques require adult students to control their emotions and convert negative energies into positive and productive behavior. It is also critical for students to have a supportive atmosphere where they feel comfortable expressing their emotions and find mentorship to deal with the intricacies of emotions.
