Your emotional intelligence refers to your ability to understand and manage negative emotions arising in you and in others. Improving your emotional intelligence is thus essential for success in our increasingly chaotic and interconnected social and professional worlds.
Background
In the early part of the 20th century, IQ (rational Intelligence Quotient) was the only measure used to select and promote people. Later research popularized a parallel measure: EQ (Emotional intelligence Quotient). Emotional Quotient (EQ) is another name given to emotional intelligence to separate it from Intelligence Quotient (IQ).
When predicting your success in an interconnected and turbulent world, brainpower measured by IQ tests matters less than your more intuitive EQ.
IQ gets you Hired. EQ gets you Promoted.
Brendan P. Keegan – CEO, bestselling author
Here is the good news: Unlike IQ, which is harder to improve, you can easily improve your EQ by learning to recognize and eliminate negative emotions.
Benefits of improving your emotional intelligence
Developing your EQ enhances your ability to:
* Recognize and manage your negative emotions.
* Think clearly and act sensibly when under pressure.
* Understand and influence negative emotions in others.
* Sense how your interactions with others are influencing them.
* Develop and maintain good relations, also with difficult people.
* Sustain mental health by reducing fear, stress, and anxiety.
Improving your emotional intelligence becomes especially important when you start aiming for dream goals. Instead of getting swamped by negative emotions that arise from inevitable setbacks, a high EQ will help you recognize and manage them productively.
Framework for improving your emotional intelligence
The key is recognizing that no external situation has the power to create negative emotions within us. These are caused by our negative interpretations of the outcomes of such unexpected situations. This mindset will help you manage typical negative emotions arising in you and others, such as anger, fear, sadness, jealousy, and anxiety.
The Process
* Non-judgmentally become aware of any negative emotion.
* Non-judgmentally recognize its underlying cause.
* Change the point of view to see these as growth opportunities.
* Observe how the negative emotion changes during this process.
Typical obstacles
* Refuse to recognize and accept a negative emotion (I am not angry!)
* Surrender to the negative emotion and do nothing (I feel so bad!)
* Blame others and take the role of a victim (I am helpless!)
Useful remedies
* Connect emotionally with yourself or the other person in a caring, supportive, and non-judgmental manner.
* Take a step back and observe in a detached manner the negative emotion and underlying causes.
* Understand the negative thinking process that gave rise to that negative emotion.
* Look for opportunities to benefit from such a situation in the longer term.
* Remember not to let our powerful minds bully us into submission!
Improving your emotional intelligence will improve your social skills and help you build sincere relations, also with difficult people.
And your ability to manage negative emotions in an increasingly chaotic world will sustain mental health by reducing stress and anxiety.
Click Here to watch an interesting story of a so-called halfwit using emotional intelligence to get money.
Here are the four key abilities you need for improving your emotional intelligence
* Self-awareness: the ability to recognize your emotions, triggers, and responses.
* Self-management: the ability to handle negative emotions when they get triggered.
* Empathy: the ability to understand other people’s emotions, triggers, and responses.
* Compassion: the desire to discreetly help others benefit from your self-management skills.
Read the articles below for practical methods you can use for improving your emotional intelligence.
