Did you know that practicing empathy can make you a better person? Empathy is actually one of the most important relational skills you can practice. Merriam Webster defines empathy as “the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner.” Empathy is also the ability to put yourself in the other person’s shoes and to see things from their perspective. Do you have this ability? If you think you don’t, you can practice it and with a bit of patience and with a lot of hard work, you too will master this skill in no time. Here are a few very important reasons why practicing empathy makes you a better person:
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1. You Will Better Understand the People around You
One of the most important reasons why practicing empathy makes you a better person is the fact that you will be able to better understand the needs of the people around you. You will know what you need to do to make them feel happy, you will offer them your support and you will make no mistakes when trying to help them. Just try to really listen when people are speaking to you and pay attention to every little detail. They will tell you what you need to know, thus you will understand them better.
2. You Will Treat Your Loved Ones the Way They Wish You Would Treat Them
Since you’ll be able to better understand the needs of the people around you, you will know what you need to do to make your loved ones happy as well. By being more empathetic and by understanding their perspective on things, you will be able to treat them the way they wish you would treat them. You will be more caring and this will definitely improve your relationship with your close ones.
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3. You Will Understand What People Don’t Tell You
By placing yourself in other people’s shoes, you will be able to understand what they don’t tell you, because they won’t have to do it. You can understand them, you respect their point of view and you accept them just the way they are. Also, you understand their motivations and their fears and you don’t judge them when they don’t rise to your expectations. There are a lot of things people are ashamed of that they’ll avoid telling you, but this is actually not a problem for you, since you already understand all the unspoken parts of your communication.
4. You Will Find It Easier to Deal with the Negativity of Others
By being more empathetic, you will find it easier to deal with other people’s negativity, since you will understand why they behave like that. You will manage to establish a better connection with them and you won’t let yourself be influenced by their negative views. You will be able to calm yourself down and you will accept them just the way they are, because you understand their reasons for acting in such a way. With more empathy, you'll realize that most times, you’ve got nothing to do with the way there are feeling or why they are behaving in a certain way.
5. You Will Better Understand the People You Are Dealing with at Work
By being more empathetic, you will also make your work a lot easier, since you’ll be able to understand the people you are dealing with every day while you’re doing your job. You will have less trouble dealing with all kinds of conflicts with your clients or with your co-workers and also, you will understand why they are behaving the way they do. You will interact better with the people you deal with at work, thus you will make your work days more pleasant.
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6. You Will Be Able to Predict Other People’s Actions and Reactions
One of the most amazing things about being more empathetic is the fact that you’ll be able to predict other people’s actions and reactions, so you won’t be surprised when they behave in a certain way. You’ll know what to expect from them, so you know what you can do to prevent certain things and how to avoid arguments or conflicts that might damage your relationship.
7. You Will Learn How to Motivate the People around You
By learning how to be more empathetic, you will learn how to motivate the people around you, how to be there for them when they need you and how to help them find their strength in order to overcome all hardship. Empathy is an essential trait of every successful leader, so you definitely need to work on this aspect of your personality if you dream of being a true motivator someday.
Even though sometimes we all tend to be self-absorbed and to see things only from our perspective, we need to consciously work on being more empathetic, so we can improve the quality of our relationships, to better understand the people around us and to be able to reach our objectives. Are you an empathetic person? Do you know any other reasons why practicing empathy makes you a better person? Please tell us what you think in the comments section!
Sources: lifehack.org, huffingtonpost.com, lifehacker.com
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