27 Totally Legit Reasons Why Someone Hasn't Responded To You, Based On Emotional Intelligence

Awaiting responses. Isn't that the worst?

But people with very high emotional intelligence understand that when you find yourself waiting for a response to a message you sent with high hopes, it's easy to let feelings and fears get the better of you.

You've asked a question about a business proposition you're passionate about. Will this work? You have followed a potential new recruit. What will he or she say? Could this fit? You have sent a follow-up to someone who has asked you to contact them. Will this be the start of something great?

But then, the crickets. No response to your carefully crafted message. And that can lead to anxiety.

They say everything written is an autobiography, and of course I've been in that position. The trick is to frame the whole situation in a way that leverages your emotions to work in your favor, thinking of as many innocuous reasons as possible why someone hasn't contacted you yet. /p>

In other words, you train through repetition to think: Of course, it's not my fault they didn't respond; they just have something else holding them back.

Here are seven categories of things highly emotionally intelligent people say to each other to deconstruct dialogue drama, broken down into 27 very specific and legitimate possible explanations.

"Wait, I'm sure they haven't answered?"

When you're expecting a reply, rule #1 is to check your replies: Did their reply end up in spam? Promotions? Did you just look just beyond? Search for name, domain, email address, etc. of the person. You might not even need to check out the other ideas on this list. (But keep reading, there are some gems you'll want to use next time.)

2. "Was there a lack of productivity on their part?"

Emotionally intelligent people understand that people sometimes forget to respond to important messages. Other times there are more details behind the delay. The common thread among these possible explanations is that the lack of response has little to do with what you proposed. Instead, you can remember it could be something like:

"They wrote a response, but forgot to click 'send'." "They wrote and rewrote the perfect answer, and have now shelved it because they're too close to it." "They say your message, read it on their phone, accidentally deleted it, and now they don't know if they meant it." "They couldn't respond because they're angry or emotional about something unrelated." "They feel inadequate or like an impostor, and therefore overthink their response."

3. "Is their delay part of a strategy?"

Emotionally intelligent people understand that sometimes delay in response is just that: intentional delay; maybe he's trying to be emotionally intelligent on his own, and either take advantage of your desire to hear something back, or temper his own emotions and avoid a thoughtless response.

Therefore, it's helpful to put potential names in there and remember that the reason someone isn't responding might be something like:

"They're impatient, but they don't want to appear impatient." "They're worried that what you're coming up with might make too much sense, and they're trying to figure out if you have an angle they haven't seen yet." "Maybe they think they know what they want to say, but they want to get it through a mentor or a partner first." "Maybe it's just someone who has a habit of waiting 24 hours or 72 or whatever, all in the hope that you blink first and answer again."

4. "Is there a technical reason?"

Granted, in 2023 a massive technology failure is less likely to be the reason for a delay, but it can still happen; perhaps more often when people work from home. Jar...