Games and Activities for Connection and Emotional Intelligence

Every type of intelligence comes down to your capacity to manage something. This can refer to information, logic, body-kinesthetic capabilities, social interactions and, of course, emotions.

In that regard, emotional intelligence comes down to the ability to identify, comprehend and manage emotions, both your own as well as the feelings of others.

While the general intelligence factor can be measured, a valid psychometric scale by which emotional intelligence is determined is yet to be discovered.

That being said, all types of intelligence gets conveniently tucked under the umbrella of ‘g’ or the general intelligence. They are considered to be the aspect of your overall intellect, the skills that you can develop.

As such, emotional intelligence can be acquired, practiced and enhanced, much akin to strengthening muscles through exercise.

If you plan to improve your EI, take a look at the most convenient games and activities for connection and emotional intelligence below.

Practice self-awareness

All practices that enhance emotional intelligence begin with broad self-awareness activities. They will help you understand where your strengths lie, as well as your weaknesses, and contribute to better brain health.

For starters, you can easily find a list of character traits online and print it out in order to underline the traits that you already have and those that you can improve in two different colors. 

Have a spare third color for the traits that you did not know you already have and which you are certainly bound to discover as you exercise your self-awareness in a myriad of social activities throughout the day.

The point is to detach yourself from the situation as it unfolds and observe how you react.

You might be surprised to discover that you don’t know yourself as well as you think, which is a good entry point for the development of confidence and emotional intelligence.

Become the fog

Many social interactions are loaded with passive-aggressive exchanges or open hostility. Such occasions can become especially intense when you face a loved one.

One of the hallmarks of emotional intelligence is the ability to stay calm in high-pressure situations. This is where a sort of a ‘make-believe’ practice can do wonders: become the fog.

It is a simple activity, almost akin to a game, that can make a world of difference in emotionally intense situations and conflicts.

You can imagine that you are made of fog, that words and sentences are nothing but hard objects thrown at you. Naturally, if you were made of fog, these objects would simply pass through you.

This works especially well with when you face ad hominem attacks from other people or in situations when a loved one throws scathing criticisms at you.

You can even respond with sentences that reflect nothing but the agreement with what has been said to you, without any accompanying emotion (and it cannot be stressed enough that the absence of emotions needs to stay truthful and consistent).

Practice this long enough, and you’ll have a lifetime of nerves to spare.

Play a video game

Only recently has video game addiction become established as an official mental disorder, and while it stands that this is a controversial decision that can be argued against, the bottom line is that the impact of video games on human psychology still requires a lot of research.

There are positive benefits as well, for sure, and if you are disciplined enough to limit your playtime to one or two hours a day, you can reap the benefits of improving your emotional intelligence.

However, this won’t work with any game – you should specifically choose a high-stress: high-reward game, possibly a strategy, which requires you to curb your emotions in order to make sound decisions with far-reaching consequences.

If this game also entails a multiplayer function, the results may even be better.

After all, every human is a homo ludens as well, and we learn through a complex arrangement of games throughout our lifetime.

With that in mind, if video games are not your style, you may want to try another type of similar activity that is right down your alley…

Try your hand at golf

You can easily spend 4 hours ‘meditating’ on the golf course. In order to become good at this game, you have to practice patience, resilience and emotional intelligence.

Your emotional state plays a crucial role in finishing a successful game, so if you want to get to the final hole, you’ll have to think positively and manage your immediate disappointments.

Of course, you’ll need equipment that is rigorously tested for quality, so you can take a look at the selection of Hombre Golf Club gear to get a rough estimate of what you need before you head out to the local club. It would be absolutely amazing if you had a chance to compete with a friend or colleague.

Playing a high-pressure golf game in pair pits you against a range of psychological and emotional hurdles that transcend the opponent. In many ways, you are playing a game against yourself, which practically forces you to reach emotional equilibrium. 

Impose life-improving restrictions on yourself

A lack of emotional intelligence is what defines spoiled people. They are self-centered, inconsiderate, and they lack discipline.

Even if a person overcomes the first two downsides (which most people do before they turn 10), the lack of discipline can remain a consistent problem throughout their lives.

When you are faced with sudden restrictions that, even though they may have a positive effect on your quality of life and outlooks, present a drastic change, your emotional reactions to them can tell you a lot about yourself.

If you start feeling excessively irritable, desperate, that life isn’t fair, it usually means that you need to ‘flex’ your EI muscle a bit harder.

Impose meaningful restrictions on yourself – the ones that will improve your productivity, mental and physical health – and use them as an activity for improving emotional intelligence.

As such, these restrictions will basically serve two crucial functions, so it’s an all-around win-win situation.

Conclusion

The assorted list of activities given above should leave you with plenty of options to ‘flex’ your EI ‘muscle’ and become more attuned with your own emotions, as well as the emotions of people that surround you.

The key thing is to do everything at your own unique pace because developing emotional intelligence and establishing meaningful connections with people can change your quality of life significantly.

We can even go a step further and claim that people with developed Emotional Intelligence can use it as an invaluable tool to advance through life and improve their overall status in broader society.