There are MANY ways to increase your emotional intelligence starting right where you are. One that I haven’t seen mentioned hardly at all is particularly powerful: the DISC assessment.
The Inventor of DISC also created Wonder Woman
William Moulton Marston got the credit for inventing both DISC and Wonder Woman, though of course he had help. His primary text where he elaborated DISC is called The Emotions of Normal People.
In the 1920’s when Freud’s psychoanalytic theory based on abnormal people was the standard, a very different approach to understanding human behavior emerged.
Marson analyzed behavior along two axes and linked it with particular emotions. The real power of DISC is that it helps us describe a range of emotions and behavior styles using a common language.
Most people familiar with DISC haven’t read the text.
What are Normal Emotions?
Fear, anger, joy and calmness are some of the primary feelings we experience. Aggression, sadness, surprise and disgust are some others. When you start observing emotions like a scientist would, just listening and watching and paying attention, your social awareness increases. Social awareness is a key domain of emotional intelligence.
Using DISC as a Tool for Emotional Intelligence
Most people who take the DISC assessment experience some degree of greater awareness of themselves. This greater self awareness is another key aspect of emotional intelligence. Not all DISC systems are the same nor is the quality of the feedback equally good, but the best DISC tools give people accurate and impactful snapshots of themselves.
What DISC does is it systematizes our observations (of ourselves and others) and trains us to notice nonverbal behavior as well as listen to how people say things or act. With greater awareness, you can adapt your speech and speed and tone toward others, which is what social regulation is about.
Many people who have taken DISC have a brief experience of the tool and then move on and the impression fades. People who are serious about improving their emotional intelligence should reconsider that this one tool might have multiple unexplored uses.
One sign of that is the feeling of being constrained or limited. On the other side of fear is a great freedom. You have more room to move, to think and make decisions. If you aren’t experiencing that now, what is the truth you need to tell yourself?
