Emotional Intelligence

Written By Colēgia

Emotional intelligence is a crucial life skill that affects us all throughout school. This form of intelligence can determine how well we interact with others. Today we want to discuss the importance of emotional intelligence and how to work on it.

What is Emotional Intelligence?

Emotional intelligence can be defined as “the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one's emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically.” One thing to keep in mind is that compared to your IQ your EQ, emotional quotient, has a different correlation. This is primarily determined by several other areas that are directly related to how you would respond in certain situations. Most of these are social but other situations are more introspective. Those with a high EQ are able to keep their feelings in check and are less impulsive. This is helpful as we can oftentimes make irrational decisions when we feel stressed. A high EQ lets us recognize when we aren't feeling our best and can make space to help make a more informed choice.

“Those with a high EQ are able to keep their feelings in check and are less impulsive.”

Why Does This Matter?

While being intelligent is very helpful, more often than not our emotional intelligence can help determine our success in school and life. Ideally, we want both areas to work in harmony with one another. Being aware of your feelings can help us foster necessary life skills such as empathy along with self-management. Empathy is needed as there will be many instances where others may be in pain or require help and empathy can make it easier to understand what they are going through. Self-management is good as it allows us to take control over our thoughts and emotions rather than being ruled by them. Our emotions also have a large part in how our relationships work out as well. Being aware of what we say and how others respond is indicative of our emotional intelligence.

“Being aware of your feelings can help us foster necessary life skills such as empathy along with self-management.”

How to Build Our Emotional Intelligence

While some of us are more naturally attuned to being empathetic, there are many ways to work on our emotional intelligence. When it comes to our interactions with others, listening is one of the best ways to work on this. Listening demonstrates that we respect the other person and we care about what they have to say. Active listening keeps us in the moment rather than trying to get to our response as soon as possible. Other ways to help build your emotional intelligence are to be mindful of how you feel before you say something. For example, if something is upsetting you instead of resorting to shouting, you can focus on being calm and expressing your thoughts concisely. Self-introspection is another way to build your EQ. If we feel that we may react a bit too strongly we can take a step back and reassess our feelings. This is good as it can make time for processing how we feel. Not everything requires an immediate answer and understanding this can help. Emotional intelligence offers many benefits and being aware of your feelings can make all the difference.

Colēgia

Colēgia

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