We talk a lot about success here on Loren’s World. How to get it. Why you aren’t getting it. How to define it. And even how to redefine it. But all of that only works if we are looking at the whole picture. And that whole picture contains a factor known as “Emotional IQ” or “Emotional Intelligence.” Recently, it seems that studies everywhere are linking this key factor to success, outperforming high IQ’s by a large margin (70% of the time). Travis Bradberry at Forbes writes, “Decades of research now point to emotional intelligence as the critical factor that sets star performers apart from the rest of the pack.” Why? Because emotional intelligence affects the way we think, react, and perform. And those are the major players on the road to success. Ready to harness your own emotional IQ? Read on for a breakdown.
Emotional IQ: What Is It and How Does It Work?
According to Psychology Today, “Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others. It is generally said to include 3 skills:
- Emotional awareness, including the ability to identify your own emotions and those of others;
- The ability to harness emotions and apply them to tasks like thinking and problems solving;
- The ability to manage emotions, including the ability to regulate your own emotions, and the ability to cheer up or calm down another person.”
So, in essence, being in charge of your own emotions, being centered, and feeling in control is a huge part of a healthy emotional IQ. And one of the most important things for an individual who is trying to achieve greater things. You may be driven by passion, but you can’t let your emotions drive you.
So how do you work on building up your Emotional IQ?
Dr. Norman Rosenthal shares these tips on how to enhance your emotional intelligence. These are just a few key basics. For the full article, click here.
- Don’t judge or edit your feelings too quickly. Try not to dismiss your feelings before you have a chance to think them through. Healthy emotions often rise and fall in a wave, rising, peaking, and fading naturally. Your aim should be not to cut off the wave before it peaks.
- Connect your feelings with your thoughts. When you feel something that strikes you as out of the ordinary, it is always useful to ask, “What do I think about that?” Often times, one of our feelings will contradict others. That’s normal. Listening to your feelings is like listening to all the witnesses in a court case. Only by admitting all the evidence will you be able to reach the best verdict.
- Write thoughts and feelings down.Research has shown that writing down your thoughts and feelings can help profoundly. A simple exercise like this could take only a few hours per week.
How do you stay balanced and in tune with your emotions and thoughts? Do you feel it makes you a more capable and successful professional?
