In this episode of the Everyday EQ podcast, Julia breaks down the components of emotional intelligence and what it actually means to apply it to your real life. She covers self-awareness, self-regulation, intrinsic motivation, empathy, and social skills in simple terms. Then, learn the five steps to handling your emotions better, so that you can understand what your emotions are trying to tell you and become more emotionally intelligent in real time. Plus, she shares a ridiculously easy exercise you can use to get past your surface emotions and identify how you're *really* feeling in a triggering situation.

1:34 - What is emotional intelligence?

2:30 - The breakdown of the five components of emotional intelligence, as defined by Daniel Goleman (self-awareness, self-regulation, intrinsic motivation, empathy, social skills)

5:32 - Julia's breakdown of what EQ really is and how to make it actionable

5:41 - Emotions are just data

6:16 - Why is EQ so dang important? Why should you care about it? Why does Julia believe it will save the world?

7:07 - Metaphor time! Emotions are the bumper rails in our bowling lane of life.

13:48 - Awareness of our emotions helps us understand who we are and what we really want.

14:46 - The relationship between self-awareness and alignment

16:18 - How can we handle emotions?

16:25 - Going from self-awareness to empathy and emotionally intelligent communication + how that plays out IRL

18:07 - How to handle emotions when you're just starting out in this practice of raising your EQ

18:22 - First step to handling your emotions in a healthy way? See them coming. You can do this by identifying patterns.

20:34 - Second step in how to handle emotions in a healthy way: Let them come. (Say no to distractions!)

21:34 - *Self-love has entered the chat*

22:49 - Step three: Have empathy for yourself.

23:05 - But do *this part right here* to not get stuck in those feels.

23:16 - You are not your emotions.

24:02 - Step four: The finish line! Understand what your emotions are trying to tell you.

26:16 - But wait, there's more! Bonus step five: Take action on this new info.

26:22 - Self-trust FTW

26:43 - Recap of the five steps to handling emotions in a healthy way

27:02 - A simple exercise to identify what you're TRULY feeling + using triggers as a learning opportunity

27:12 - The pitfall of bypassing your emotional experience and instead intellectualizing things

28:48 - How to diffuse an emotional trigger + a thorough example