An empathetic person can identify with what someone else is experiencing. They may have had the same experience before. This isn’t necessary to practice empathy. You might just be very good at putting yourself in another person’s mindset.

Someone tells you they lost their job. They’re going through so many different negative emotions. They’re concerned about their mortgage payment and other financial issues.

A person that loses a dream job could start wondering what happened. It took them a long time to get the job they always wanted. They might have been a great employee. Then something occurred that was out of their control. Perhaps the company went bankrupt.

This individual could start questioning his own role in the failure of the company. A ton of different negative emotions might be experienced. The empathetic person is able to fully embrace the emotions the other person is going through even if they’ve never lost a job before. Continue reading →

Have you ever had this happen? A friend gives you a call. She says she’s going through a tough time emotionally. You ask her what happened. She lays out her situation for you. Maybe she caused the problem herself, or it was out of her control.

Either way, you can really understand what she’s going through. You experienced something similar years ago. The emotions and feelings come rushing back and you absolutely understand her point of view.

If you’ve ever experienced this, and felt a strong urge to help that person, that’s empathy. It’s an emotional skill that not everyone has. It’s a beautiful way to make the world a better place. It creates a more social planet. Then there are the positive feelings you get from helping someone in need.

If you would like to improve your empathy skills, here are four exercises that can help you do exactly that. They’ll let you experience the many benefits of empathy, while also helping those people you care about. Continue reading →