When success and happiness is concerned, both emotional intelligence and intellectual ability matter. Emotional intelligence is a human trait, which has been researched as an emerging concept that helps in building stronger relationships, achieving personal goals and success at work.
Emotional Intelligence – What is it?
As humans, we are emotional. Happiness, sadness, love, hatred, anger, rage, envy and joy are some of the emotional traits we exude. Emotional intelligence defines the ability of human beings to identify, understand, use, and manage their emotions in a positive way so as to relieve stress, empathize, communicate effectively, defuse conflict, and overcome challenges. It affects various aspects of your life, including our behavior and interaction with others.
If your EQ level is high, you can easily recognize your emotional state and that of others, and even engage with individuals.
Importance of Emotional Intelligence in Life
Success – we are running after it, and it is running beyond our reach. As a result, we suffer from stress, anxiety and a nervous breakdown. Given the fact that there are so many reported cases of heart attacks and strokes in the corporate world today, it’s time to take charge of our health.
Emotional intelligence is the key to pave your road to success. There are some people who’ve been academically brilliant, yet they are socially incompetent and unsuccessful at their work and personal relationships. Reason is – intellectual intelligence is not just enough to be successful; you also need to have the emotional quotient right in order to manage your emotions and stress before facing the challenges in life.
Your emotional wellbeing has a profound effect on your work, health, and relationships.
Navigating social complexities occurring at your workplace, motivating and leading others, is the route to excel in the corporate world. As a matter of fact, most companies are gauging the EQ of candidates during the interview process to determine their emotional ability to interact.
Physical health is often affected by stress levels, which leads to severe health complications. Uncontrolled levels of stress can elevate your blood pressure levels, increase risk of stroke and heart attack, suppress your immune system, speed up aging, and make you infertile. Emotional intelligence helps you to relieve your stress and anxiety.
Uncontrolled stress effects mental health, thereby making you susceptible to depression and anxiety. If you fail to understand or manage your emotions, mood swings and depression will eventually set in.
Finally, relationships are controlled by emotions – you will be able to express your feelings and emotions better with a higher emotional quotient. This will help you to communicate effectively as well as forge stronger relations, both in personal life and at work.
How to Raise the Level of Emotional Intelligence?
To foster stronger relationships and bond well at work, you need to be mentally strong. Staying connected to your emotional and rational self will help you to explore your choices better. In order to promote emotional intelligence skills, as well as your decision-making functions, you must understand how to manage your mind and emotions properly.
Emotional intelligence is primarily built by relieving stress, staying connected, and remaining connected to your inner self and others.
There are 2 essential skills to control and manage overwhelming stress in life and 3 skills to improve communication:
- Ability to reduce stress quickly in various settings
- Ability to identity emotions and prevent them from overpowering your mind
- Ability to connect to others emotionally using nonverbal techniques
- Ability to utilize humor to stay connected despite challenging situations
- Ability to develop a positive attitude and resolve conflicts with confidence
Emotional awareness should be learned and cultivated in the mind to improve mental health and living condition.