Do you truly want to be more beautiful? Beauty does come from the inside out. Having empathy towards other people, whether it’s in your business, or your family and friends, will teach you to be a more caring and supportive person. And that is true beauty.
What is empathy
Feeling what someone else feels. Showing them that you know exactly what they’re going through. You’ve put yourself in their shoes so that you can see their situation from their perspective.
Empathy shows you care and understand. It stretches us beyond our comfort zone and gives us the ability to seem like you can read someone’s mind and do more than be kind.
Being courteous, or having a pleasant tone of voice is not empathy. Taking someone’s perspective is how to have empathy.
Why is empathy important?
Have you ever told a good friend a personal problem? Did they make you feel better or worse? If they made you feel worse, you probably regretted sharing your problem. But if your friend shows empathy, then you feel better.
If you have empathy for your friends and family, you can help them feel better about their situation or about themselves. You can help with relieving their problems. And your relationships will grow stronger.
Here’s how to be more empathetic
Are you an empathetic person? Do you have empathy with your co-workers, or your friends and family?
Empathy is a cognitive attribute, not a personality trait. So if you feel like you don’t have empathy, it can be learned. Most people need to practice this skill. But we all have the capacity for empathy.
Here are some tips for increasing empathy.
Put yourself in the person’s shoes
As mentioned earlier, if you put yourself in the other person’s shoes, it’s easier to have empathy for them.
Instead of telling someone that they’re ‘overreacting’ or this situation is ‘no big deal’, think about what that person may be going through. We sometimes say things that are judgmental first because from our perspective it really looks like no big deal.
But the other person may have other problems in their life they have to deal with. If you don’t know all the issues in a person’s life, how can you make any kind of conclusion.
Instead of judging, imagine you are the person going through that particular problem. Picture yourself in their situation and try to understand things from their perspective. This helps you to connect with their emotions.
Show care and concern
If someone tells you the problems they’re going through, the first thing you can do is offer support. They need your emotional support.
Ask them if there’s anything you can do for them. Sometimes you can talk with a friend either on the phone or in a coffee shop about a situation they’re going through. Together you may find a solution. They will appreciate your concern.
Never make a person’s problem seem unimportant. If you want to learn how to show empathy, make the person feel important and that whatever they’re going through is important enough for you to care.
Acknowledge the person’s feelings
Have you ever shared how you’re feeling about someone or a certain situation to a friend, and they either say something irrelevant or just ignore you? They seem to just brush it off and go on to something else.
That’s not acknowledging someone’s feelings.
If someone comes up to you and says they’re frustrated with someone, or something, acknowledge their feelings. Ask them why they are frustrated, or ask what happened and that you’re sorry to hear that.
Emotions are central to the conversation. If you brush off the emotion, then the person will shut themselves off and not continue to share their situation.
Even if it seems small to you, acknowledge how they are feeling and offer your support.
As you practice building your empathy skills, you will be able to see someone’s problems as important much quicker than you used to. Always acknowledge someone else’s emotions and show that you care. Once their negative emotion is dealt with, they will start to feel better.
They start to see that there is a solution to their problem and they have hope again.