Are you growing emotionally?

This post in many ways is a tribute to how much I have spoken of emotional intelligence. A large part of this discussion has been due to new language and ways of articulating challenging emotions and emotional states. Once you have integrated emotional intelligence into your lifestyle, the hope is that you will evolve and mature. Here are five signs that you are growing emotionally:

Confidence: If you are more comfortable in your skin and body and know who you are despite what others may think of you. At the same time you have been learning to avoid taking things so personally. When issues come up, it seems easier to identify whether they are your issues or not. This also comes with a high emotional awareness where you know what you think and how you feel.

Being Present: You are present and fully conscious of what is going on inside of you and around you. This is the essence of emotional intelligence, recognizing and getting to know your inner processes while balancing this with what is happening around you. This is probably the most challenging and rewarding state of being you will ever take on and continue to take on day to day.

Look for growth opportunities: You are interested and invest in bettering yourself everyday not being governed by strong habits. You choose to let go of looking good and focus on succeeding instead. You see the opportunities for growth in all situations, requesting feedback and bringing out the positive side of learned mistakes.

Move beyond the comfort zone: You act on your emotions by following your instincts, insights, hunches and any other mental messages you receive. This may mean that you are okay with asking and accepting help from others and/or that you have let go of managing other people's perceptions of you. Others may perceive your actions as risky and you being fully present and confident are more comfortable with doing things differently and/or trying new things.

Response ability: You are aware of your response ability. You make a conscious effort to choose to respond as oppose to react. When you make this choice, you are able to hold yourself accountable for your actions and move on the best way forward. You also can take on more responsibility in being the best leader you can be. You practice forgiveness of others and of yourself.