One important aspect of emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotions in yourself and others – and to use that information appropriately.

Recognising emotional intelligence in yourself can help you control and manage your emotions, while spotting emotions in others can lead to empathy and success in your relationships, both personal and professional.

Here are 5 ways to boost your emotional intelligence:

1. Step back

Don't interrupt or change the subject…

If feelings are uncomfortable, we may want to avoid them by interrupting or distracting ourselves. Sit down at least twice a day and ask, "How am I feeling?"

It may take a little time for the feelings to arise. Allow yourself that small space of time, uninterrupted.

2. Don’t judge or edit

Don't judge or edit your feelings too quickly

Try not to dismiss your feelings before you have a chance to think them through. Healthy emotions often rise and fall in a wave, rising, peaking, and fading naturally. Your aim should be not to cut off the wave before it peaks.

3. Spot connections

See if you can find connections…

Between your feelings now – and the other times you have felt this same way. When a difficult feeling arises, ask yourself, "When have I had this feeling before?"

Doing this may help you to realise if your current emotional state is reflective of the current situation, or of another time in your past.

4. Get connected

Connect your feelings with your thoughts…

When you feel something that strikes you as out of the ordinary, it is always useful to ask, "What do I think about that?" Often, one of your feelings will contradict others. That's normal.

Listening to your feelings is like listening to all the witnesses in a court case. Only by admitting all the evidence will you be able to reach the best verdict.

5. Listen to your body 

Listen to your body…

A knot in your stomach while driving to work may be a clue that your job is a source of stress. A flutter of the heart when you meet a girl you have just started to date may be a clue that this could be "the real thing."

Listening to these sensations and the underlying feelings that they signal will allow you to process with your powers of reason.