What is Emotional Intelligence?
To put it simply, emotional intelligence is having the capacity to understand, manage, and regulate our own emotions, as well as understand the emotions of other people.
Our emotions show in every aspect of our lives. In fact, we consciously and unconsciously depend on our emotions in ways you might not have thought of before. For example, our emotions keep us out of danger to maintain our survival. They help you make short-term and long-term decisions, take action or inaction, communicate with others, build relationships, make sense of the world around you, and help others understand you better.
It's clear that our emotions were no mistake. In fact, they were intelligently designed to keep us moving forward. They act as our guides and directional signals to navigate this crazy thing we call life. Although our emotions serve such a purposeful function for humanity, it poses a problem when we are unable to recognize, identify, regulate, communicate, and release them efficiently.
If left unchecked, these emotions can run rampant throughout our mind and our body causing us to feel stuck, lose control, and react to our external stimuli, instead of responding and creating a meaningful solution.
Having an increased emotional IQ comes with many added benefits.
Here are just a few:
Improved conflict resolution skills
Effective communication
Stress reduction
Increased empathy for others
Ability to overcome challenges with a positive mindset
Ability to respond than react to internal or external situations
Reduced emotional outbursts caused by anger, frustration, stress, fear, or anxiety
Increased self-control
Improved performance
Ability to recognize, identify, and release difficult emotions
Improved mind management
Improved sleep
Improved thought-processing skills
Increased self-awareness
Effective listening skills
Ability to deal with change and uncertainty efficiently
Increased sense of accountability
Improved ability to take control of your thoughts and feelings to create action-oriented results
Heightened intuitive thinking