5 Reasons Why You Should Learn And Practice Empathy In Your Everyday Life

People are inherently different from one another. Even identical twins who look and sound similar will have drastically different personalities. The way people perceive the world and respond to it through their behaviors are all vastly different. While some of them are inborn characteristics, a lot of it is developed over time as a result of social interactions with the people around them.

Empathy is one such skill that we all develop or should explicitly work to enhance. The ability to empathize is defined as a person’s ability to understand and share the emotions of others. While a lot of people think that kindness and empathy makes them weak, it is in fact what makes them more human at the end of the day.

It is okay if you are not able to empathize with others naturally. If you are genuinely interested to be more understanding of other’s emotions, you can always develop the skill and practice it daily. In this blog, we share some life coaching tips from our favorite life coach in Dubai. Take a look-

Be a good listener

The first step to develop empathy is by being a good listener. Most of the time when we have heated conversations with others, we stop listening and start formulating responses in our minds. While your friend is expressing his or her opinion, you will be busy getting your reply ready, rather than listening to it; this often leads to miscommunication and even arguments in worst cases.

However, by keenly listening to what the other person has to say will help you recognize the point he or she is trying to convey. In that way you will be able to understand where your conversation partner is coming from, their life and work experiences which might have lead him or her to speak the way they do.

To be an active listener, visually and verbally respond. Nod or respond with sounds like “ah", "oh" or "ya?". Wait at least a second to pass before responding to it verbally. When you listen, things they say might start intriguing you. If so, you can ask follow up questions to better understand what they are talking about.

Observe and learn

Observation is a key skill everyone should develop to be better at empathizing. Start by looking at the people around you. Imagine where they come from, where they are going and what they must be thinking or feeling at any moment. Practice this skill when you are traveling in public transportation, without making anyone uncomfortable with your staring.

Life coaching teaches you to observe, wonder and care. By constantly practicing and improving your observations, you will be able to bring it into any of your everyday meetings and conversation as well.

Step into their shoes

It is fairly common for all of us to have disputes with others. As mentioned before, every one of us is different with varied viewpoints. When we are in an argument, we usually take the stance that we are right and our counterpart is wrong. We tend to take things personally if it gets too heated as well.

In our quest to develop empathy, we should try to “step into their shoes”. Listen to what they are saying and think from their point of view. Is he or she making valid points? What intention does this person hold? Once you start seeing their side of the argument, it helps you understand why they are behaving the way they do.

To empathize is to validate other people’s feelings even if you don’t necessarily feel or agree with it. In case of an argument, this skill can come in handy to reduce conflicts and work together. If you genuinely wish to be empathetic and needs some help to discipline your thoughts, emotions, and stress, seek life coaching in Dubai. Our life coach will help you practice this skill in real-time, aiding you in your journey to be an empathetic person.