Learning to understand others better - Tips for teens

It is not always easy understanding people.  If you know someone well, you can sometimes 'predict' how they will feel or act in a certain situation, but some people just stay a mystery in the way they act.  

It can be difficult to understand their actions, but in paying more attention to the way they react and what they do can actually help us to understand them better. 

 You can also imagine yourself in their shoes and feel some compassion towards them, even if it is not always easy.

Being able to predict how other people might feel is a part of emotional intelligence (EQ for short).  It's a skill we can all develop with practice. 

You can read more about EQ here.

Many times another way in which we can understand or predict the actions of people, is to look at their 'body language.

                                

It is very important that we can have 'empathy' with people in order to understand them.  Empathy means that you can see yourself in their shoes and have sympathy with what they are going through and have to face.  Because you have empathy, you understand their actions better.

Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, i.e., the capacity to place oneself in another's position.

This can be difficult when you are a teenager, because even if you do not want to admit it, a teenager is mostly 'wired' to think about themselves and compassion, sympathy and empathy is not within the experience field of all or do not come naturally.  If you lack these things, you will have to work on it.  We need to have understanding and compassion for our fellow man to make this world better.

You can read here for more on how you can practice to have more compassion.

You can start bettering your skills to understand people by watching the way they react in certain situations and to also listen when they speak to you.  You can watch people's facial expressions in certain situations, body language and what emotions they are feeling.

Be open to learn and understand that people are different from one another and everybody will not always react the same.

People who are good at understanding others are usually good listeners. Research shows that the better someone listens, the more connected that person feels with the person who is talking. This produces a feeling of bonding and closeness.

Practice listening to others everyday - do not switch off halfway  through the conversation.  Really make a point to listen without interrupting or thinking about other things.

If you are getting better at understanding people, you will pick up a few things, without them having to say anything and then you can ask them with what you can help, what they need and offer your help.

You will learn to show somebody that you really care about them and in you will show your kindness which will make you feel happy and more fulfilled.