How to Be Empathetic: Showing Love and Compassion to Friends, Colleagues, and Family

([Read this post on Personal Excellence]( [Back view of two friends walking through a field] (Image: [Joseph Pearson]( Note from Celes: Are you facing a problem and need quick advice? Or do you want to pick my brain on a project you are working on? After receiving constant emails for advice/help, I decided to set up a [1-1 consultation page]( where anyone can book a 1-1 call with me for any purpose. Introductory prices for early bookers. Check out my [1-1 consultation page]( for more details! What is empathy? It is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. The ability to put yourself in other’s shoes, and try to relate and understand where they are coming from, even if the situation is not familiar to you. Earlier this week I was sharing a personal problem with a good friend from London. Not only did he respond right away, which I didn’t expect because it was late at night his time, but he gave very thoughtful remarks. There were several things he did/said that made me feel better: - He asked questions to understand my situation further. - He didn’t judge but understood things from my perspective. - He considered things from various angles. - He gave helpful suggestions on what could work. - He constantly related to my feelings, which were unhappiness, hurt, and frustration, rather than dismiss them or brush them away. I later realized that he had woken up in the middle of the night, but chose to respond and engage in one hour-long conversation with me, rather than return to sleep. I later texted him, “Thanks X. I really appreciate having you as a friend. [🙂] “ How to Have Empathy It goes without saying that empathy is important. I have shared deep personal problems with friends before but got replies that made me feel worse. I have also made very casual remarks that good friends picked up, which later turned into heartfelt conversations, because it created the opening for me to share. When you have empathy for others, you help them feel better about themselves. You help others relieve their problems. You also strengthen your relationship with the person, because empathy is like a conduit that lets thoughts and emotions flow. So how can you have empathy? Here are 8 tips to be empathetic to our friends, loved ones, colleagues and family. - Put yourself in the person’s shoes. It’s easy for us to make comments and judge. We can also say “This is no big deal” or “I don’t see why you feel this way.” However, put yourself in the person’s shoes and walk a mile. Maybe they are undergoing great pain and difficulty. Maybe they are experiencing deep problems from other areas of their life. Maybe there are little issues that led them to behave this way. Without knowing the full details of a person’s problem, we can’t make a conclusion. Imagine you are the person, and try to understand the problem from their perspective. This will allow you to connect with their emotions, perspective better. - Show care and concern. When someone tells you a personal problem, chances are he/she doesn’t feel well and needs your emotional support. Show care and concern. Ask, “How are you feeling?” to show concern. “Is there anything I can do for you?” is a great way to show support. If you are close friends, offering to talk on the phone or meet up, can make a big difference to them. - Acknowledge the person’s feelings. One of the biggest problems I find in communication is that many people don’t acknowledge the other person’s feelings. Acknowledging means to recognize the importance of something. So for example, someone says “I feel so frustrated with X.” Acknowledging this feeling means saying, “Why are you frustrated?” or “I’m sorry to hear that. What happened?” On the other hand, when you brush off or dismiss that emotion (e.g., “Relax,” “What’s the big deal?”), or you try to avoid the topic or say something irrelevant, you are not acknowledging — or respecting — their feelings. Think about emotions as the connecting point in a conversation. How you respond to an emotion is central to whether the person continues to share or closes off. When someone expresses an emotion, like “I’m sad,” “[I’m angry]( or “I’m frustrated,” acknowledge the emotion. For example: “I’m so sorry that you are feeling this,” “This must be really frustrating,” or “What happened?” - Ask questions. Questions open a conversation. When someone gets the courage to share, especially a personal problem, asking questions encourages them to share more. Think about what the person said and ask meaningful questions. For example, say your friend confides to you that she just [broke up]( with her boyfriend. Asking questions like, “What happened?”, “Are you okay?” or “Why did you guys break up?” can help her open up. It also tells her that you want to hear more. On the other hand, giving nondescript remarks like, “I see, hope you can move on,” or “Breaking up is normal,” or “Rest well and go take a break” are not only unhelpful, but shuts them from opening up further. - Mirror. A big conversation stopper is when someone types 10 paragraphs of text while you respond with one short line. Same when you respond to a deeply personal message with a mono-syllabic response, like “I see” or “Ok.” That’s because the person is being very open, while your response is closed off. You are not responding in resonance with the person. This is where mirroring comes in. [Mirroring]( means to imitate someone’s nonverbal signals — gesture, speech pattern, or attitude — to build rapport. In my opinion, NLP practitioners have made a bad rep out of mirroring. They teach people to replicate a person’s mannerisms from head to toe. But this misses the point — mirroring is about connecting authentically with others. The goal is not to “copy” someone’s mannerisms blindly, but to use it to build rapport. For example, if your friend shares a personal fact, reciprocate by sharing a personal fact of your own (if relevant). If they make eye contact, reciprocate by giving eye contact. If they look away, look away and give them some private space. Don’t copy every aspect of their [body language]( without thought. Instead, adjust your behavior to match their’s in tone and vibe. - Don’t run ahead of the conversation. A big mistake I notice people making when someone is sharing a problem, is that they simply jump to the end point of the conversation. For example: Someone tells you he just got retrenched. You reply, “I see. Hope you can get a job soon.” What’s wrong with this? Firstly, the person just got retrenched, so he’s likely feeling hurt and depressed. The more empathetic thing to do is to understand how he is feeling first. Secondly, the person may be retrenched because the job market is bad. Saying “Hope you can get a job soon” can feel like you’re rubbing salt into a wound, because it reminds them of the [uncertainty]( ahead. What will help is to (a) connect the person based on their current emotional state, and (b) move them forward with forwarding questions. In the retrenchment example, a good way to approach the conversation will be asking the following questions, in this order: “I’m so sorry to hear that. What happened?” → “How are you feeling now?” → “What are your plans?” → (and if he wants to look for a job soon) → “What kind of jobs are you looking for?” Insert other questions in between, depending on the exchange. Another example: Someone just broke up from a long-term relationship. Saying “Cheer up and be happy” right away is insensitive as it downplays the person’s pain. Instead, ask questions like “How are you feeling?”, “Are you okay?”, “What happened?”, or “Do you want to talk?” to move them out of their pain. While you may have good intentions in telling the person to be happy, it doesn’t help as you are not recognizing their pain. Put yourself in the person’s shoes and imagine how they feel (tip #1). Pace and match the person’s emotional state, rather than trying to rush the conversation to a specific end point. - Don’t judge. Judgment shuts off a conversation. This is the same for pre-judgement, which means forming a judgement on an issue (or person) before you have adequate information. For example, say your friend gets into an argument with her boss, and you assume she is in the wrong because her boss is a manager. Or say, your friend scored poorly [for exams]( and you assume that he didn’t study — even though there could be other reasons like family problems. The best way is not to pass judgment. Give the person the benefit of the doubt. Everyone is struggling to do their best in life, so why judge and bring someone down? - Show emotional support. Last but not least, give emotional support. This means, give them your trust and affirmation. Encourage them. Let them know that no matter what happens, you have their back. A supportive statement I often get is from my god-sister, which is: “Knowing you, you always consider things very carefully. So whatever happens, I will support you.” Sometimes, what people are looking for is not answers. It’s also not solutions. Sometimes, all people are looking for is empathy and support. That in this big world of strangers, filled with fear and uncertainty, that there is someone here to support them, without judgment or bias. How can you apply the above to your relationships today? [🙂] Read: - [10 Rules of a Great Conversationalist]( - [How to Make More Best Friends in Life: My Heartfelt Guide]( - [How to Give Constructive Criticism: 6 Helpful Tips]( - [Disconnect]( The post [How to Be Empathetic: Showing Love and Compassion to Friends, Colleagues, and Family]( is first published on [Personal Excellence](. [New!] Want to Book a 1-1 Call with Me? After ongoing requests about my coaching, I have set up a 1-1 consultation page for you to book an almost-immediate call with me for quick advice and help. You can use the call for whatever you want, whether to - Get advice/clarification on something on your mind - Get advice on a relationship/career/life issue - Pick yourself out of a rough spot - Address personal stress or anxiety - Pick my brain on a new business/web project you're working on I'm currently offering introductory prices for early bookers. 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