Suspending judgment of emotions allows them to run their course and vanish. Passing judgment on whether you should or shouldn’t be feeling what you are feeling just heaps more emotions on top of the pile and prevents the original feeling from running its course.

Choose an EQ mentor. Find someone who is gifted in your chosen EQ skill, and ask this person if he or she is willing to offer you feedback and guidance at regular intervals during your journey. Be certain to set up a regular meeting time, and write this person’s name in your action plan.

Good decisions require far more than factual knowledge. They are made using self-knowledge and emotional mastery when they’re needed most.

In addition to helping you see yourself more clearly, writing down your emotions makes your tendencies much easier to remember, and the journal serves as a great reference as you raise your self-awareness.

Remembering a person’s name is a brain exercise—practice may be required. If a name sounds unusual to you, ask the person to spell it for you so you can picture the name written. This will help you remember it later. Be sure to use the person’s name at least twice during the conversation.

Rather than avoiding a feeling, your goal should be to move toward the emotion, into it, and eventually through it. This can be said for even mild emotional discomfort, such as boredom, confusion, or anticipation.

Personal competence is made up of your self-awareness and self-management skills, which focus more on you individually than on your interactions with other people. Personal competence is your ability to stay aware of your emotions and manage your behavior and tendencies.

Part of self-awareness is knowing what you’re going through even if you can’t totally change it.

EQ, on the other hand, is a flexible skill that can be learned.