Natasha Combrink
If you’re curious to know if your quirky habits or unique approaches point to high emotional intelligence, you’re in the right place.
Let’s go beyond the typical and explore some lesser-known habits to see if you have a little more control over your emotions than most…
Ready?
Well, if you have a high level of emotional intelligence,…
1) You find yourself daydreaming way too much
Does it ever feel like the day is taking forever to end? And then suddenly you have no idea where the time went?
If you’re a serial daydreamer, this will sound familiar. But believe it or not, daydreaming is actually a habit associated with highly intelligent people.
Many people think it’s just a waste of time, but if you enjoy daydreaming, it’s because your brain likes to wander freely and explore new ideas and other possibilities.
Even if they’re far-fetched!
Truth is, daydreaming does more than give you an escape from reality. It activates your brain’s default mode.
Want to know why this is great?
When your brain is in default mode, you generate spontaneous thoughts, make connections, and get new insights. How cool is that?
If you do this, you’ll know that your best ideas come from these moments. Daydreaming boosts creativity.
But, there is a downside. One that often leads to another habit intelligent people have.
Daydreaming can also make…
2) You criticize yourself
And in my experience, nothing good comes from belittling yourself in a fictional scenario.
The problem is that it often doesn’t stop there. Sometimes your far-away thoughts could eat you up from inside, pouring into your reality.
It’s okay to self-criticize, but you need to be careful of taking it to extremes.
Intelligent people self-criticize a lot, whether in daydreams or reality. If you’re also doing this, it’s a sign that you’re brilliant! But keep this in mind:
- Only self-criticize as an opportunity for personal growth and self-improvement.
- Only examine your thoughts, actions, and behaviors to gain insight and refine your skills.
- Only self-criticize in the areas of your life where you want to see improvement.
Self-criticism doesn’t have to be about tearing yourself down. And while many intelligent people do this at first, they also learn to find balance.
3) You procrastinate
Intelligent minds love to delay. And doing this isn’t always a bad thing. It only becomes a problem when left unchecked.
You’re emotionally intelligent if you procrastinate for these two reasons:
- To explore more depths and get new perspectives before tackling whatever lies ahead.
- Urgency fuels your creativity.
It’s not that you’re ignoring what you have to do completely. Your subconscious mind is actively working on finding innovative solutions or creative breakthroughs.
There’s truly a method to your procrastination madness!
If procrastination is a tool that helps you harness peak performance, you might be smarter than you think, despite what others say about doing this.
Now, you might argue and say you don’t procrastinate. But remember – it looks different for everyone.
If you notice that you always have to do a specific thing, like cleaning, before you can carry on with what you’re supposed to, you have a procrastination habit.
4) You scroll through comment sections for hours
Don’t worry. I’m not judging you. I’m so guilty of this too.
And while this habit intertwines with procrastination, it points to another unique form of intelligence.
But here’s the deal:
Spending hours immersed in comment sections isn’t necessarily a surefire indicator of intelligence. It largely depends on how you approach this habit.
Truth is, reading through the opinions and thoughts of other expose you to a wide range of perspectives, sometimes even challenging your own.
It can help you develop critical thinking skills.
The key here is active participation instead of doom-scrolling.
It’s about actively looking for thoughtful discussion that contributes to your own emotional growth.
(although getting caught up in endless arguments of strangers on the internet can also teach you a lot about life!)
5) You talk to yourself – all the time!
Okay, be honest – have you ever:
- Rehearsed an acceptance speech for a reward you won’t have a chance of getting unless you actually start doing what you need to do to be nominated for it?
- Spend a whole 5-minutes stating your side of an argument in a fictional scenario?
- Felt like you needed to get AirPods so you don’t look like a crazy person talking to themselves while driving?
Yeah, I get it.
We lot with highly active and introspective minds do this. And it’s a sign of intelligence!
Intelligent people often self-talk to clarify their thoughts, solve problems, and organize information. Whether you realize it or not, self-conversations is a tool that helps you:
- Focus and get motivated.
- Process complex ideas and find innovative solutions.
- Reinforce understanding and gain new insight.
When you self-talk, you explore deeper and analyze different perspectives. It’s amazing!
Even if you look like a cuckoo person to others…
But, like all great things, talking to yourself can also fuel something negative if you’re not careful.
Which leads us to the next uncommon habit that’s a sign of emotional intelligence –
6) You regularly dwell in anxious thoughts
The thing is, when you talk to yourself, your thoughts can start spiraling – quickly!
Let’s say you have to give a presentation at work.
You start talking to yourself, practicing the presentation, and suddenly your internal dialogue becomes filled with anxious thoughts.
Your mind fixates on all the possible negative outcomes.
And before you know it, your attention is consumed by worry and self-doubt instead of focusing on how good it can go.
This isn’t a good thing. And it isn’t a habit you should keep.
But it points to emotional intelligence. And if you can manage to see your anxious thoughts in a positive light, it can make you more thorough in your thinking.
Look at it in this way:
When you’re mulling over a scenario, and the worst possible outcomes pop up, you can prepare for them.
Anxious thoughts can heighten your awareness and make you pay closer attention to possible threats or details.
It can also motivate you to prevent these and increase your focus so you can consider different angles.
7) You work when everyone else is asleep.
Like I’m doing right now.
No.
I’m not saying I’m super duper emotionally intelligent, but there are a few reasons why being a night owl points to this:
If you have loud or busy days and can’t catch a break to focus on your things, working at night might be the only quiet time you get.
The fact that you can prioritize these hours for a little “me-time” is a sign of emotional intelligence. It means you can recognize your needs and act to fulfill them!
Choosing to work while others sleep isn’t easy either. So doing it shows you’re proactive and self-motivated.
So, if this is a habit of yours, you might be more emotionally intelligent than you thought.
And now, I encourage you to embrace your uncommon habits and use them as tools to explore new ways of understanding your emotions.
Challenge yourself to develop your emotional intelligence and let these habits guide you toward deeper self-awareness.
