How can you be a more empathetic person in today’s age?

People with high empathetic skills generally experience successful friendships, relationships, and good working conditions with colleagues.

On the other end of the scale, low empathetic people are often described as self-absorbed, selfish, and uncaring, which usually becomes a source of conflict in their interactions with others.

Empathy comes to some people naturally, while in others it has to be developed.

Different types of Empathy include Cognitive empathy, Emotional empathy, and Somatic empathy.

Empathy vs. Sympathy:

Empathy is the capacity to understand another’s experience and take part in what he or she is feeling.

Its different from sympathy. Sympathy is trying to understand a person from your perspective instead of putting yourself in another person’s shoes.

Who needs to be empathetic?

Everyone interacts with people both on a personal level and on a professional one. And since empathy is needed while interacting with people, the answer is EVERYONE.

The world needs leaders, coaches, consultants, and people with empathy, and compassion, that care about the future of others not just themselves

7 Simple things you can do to develop more empathy

1: Become curious 

A lot of people are too absorbed in themselves that they fail to know about the things and experiences happening around them.

Becoming more empathetic starts with being curious about life, about people, about things and concepts.

Ask Questions if you’re unsure about something, ask questions instead of making assumptions.

2: Question your biases

Everyone has biases. If you think you don’t, think again. These biases develop as a result of the environment we live in.

From time to time, question your biases. Try to put yourself in other situations and see if you’ll still have such biases.

Would you be biased against certain people with certain beliefs if you grew up with such beliefs?

3: Interact with new people

Interacting with new people exposes you to different views, different lifestyles, and cultures around the world. It helps you become less narrow-minded and more open-minded.

In other words, get out of your comfort zone. See new things. Experience new things.

Interact with people with opposing views. You must not agree with them but you can listen and understand where they are coming from.

A form of empathy is acknowledging that people are different and we should learn to tolerate their opposing views.

Gotta be non-Judgmental in this case. Be open-minded and accepting of the other person, without passing judgment on them or their situation.

4: Put yourself in other’s shoes

Try to feel what the other person is feeling and share in their emotional experience. Empathize with those around you.

Try to put yourself in their shoes. Imagine yourself in the other person’s position to better understand their feelings.

Another way is to reflect on your own Experiences – think about times when you’ve felt similar emotions or been in similar situations.

Here’s the fostering journey of my friend Tyler using empathy:

This is a really hard post.

Of the 70,000 tweets I’ve shared over the last two years this will easily be the most difficult.

— Tyler Todt (@tyromper) March 18, 2022

5: Get Feedback.

Feedback serves as a guide to help you monitor your progress. Ask your friends and work colleagues about your relationship skills.

Use the feedbacks to know the areas you need to work on.

6: Regulate your Dopamine 

Consuming junk food and too much media shoots our Dopamine levels through the roof.

With little serotonin which stabilizes mood people pride on showing “no emotion,” “indifference” to others.

7: Observe Nonverbal cues:

Pay attention to the way people carry themselves and the expressions on their faces.

8: Bonus point: Listen to understand

Don’t underestimate the power of Listening With Your Heart.

I mean Listen Intently to what the person is saying and try to understand their perspective.

Its the key to Be a Better Friend, Parent, Partner, etc.

People don’t always want you to solve their problems. They just need an empathetic ear to listen and a reassuring hand to hold while they save themselves.

— 𝙋𝙖𝙢𝙢𝙮 ✨ (@_Pammy_DS_) September 8, 2019

Why do we need Empathy and why is it important?

We need empathy because it allows us to connect with others on a deeper level, and to better understand their experiences.

It is the root of kindness and generosity. Most of the problems we face in our society are due to indifference and selfishness.

The world will be a better place with lot of empathetic people.

We need empathy to;

● Build better relationships between boss and employees.

● Leaders need it to understand the needs of those they are leading and know how to best solve it.

Empathy combined with Authority is magical!

● Sales and Marketing personnel need it to sell their products.

CONCLUSION

Being empathetic and in control of your emotions is key.

Staying in a positive mindset and seeing the good things in life is, too.

Every one of us is going through a certain season, it’s critical to surround yourself with people who understand it.

Don’t let outside circumstances deteriorate your mental health.