Typically when I talk about emotional intelligence, I do so with the intention of helping people understand exactly what EI really is, and how to out it to use in your life. Just like IQ, emotional intelligence impacts every aspect of life. The more emotionally intelligent you are, the easier it is to deal with anything that life throws your way. One important application of emotional intelligence is how it relates to being successful in your professional life as well. According to Forbes, people with high emotional intelligence make an average of $29 thousand dollars a year more that people who don’t.
Emotional Intelligence and Success
More Connected
Being connected to your emotions is a major aspect of emotional intelligence. These connections aren’t just with yourself, being emotionally intelligent helps you connect with others as well. A high EI is usually associated with being empathetic. Empathy connects you to the people around you in a way that is more powerful that just understanding what they are dealing with.
You actually feel it with them. Connection and empathy are what separates bosses from leaders.
Read: 8 Things that People with High Emotional Intelligence Simply Don’t Do
More Aware
Being emotionally intelligent means that you are more in tune with what’s going on inside your head, as well as what’s going on around you. It’s like being perceptive, but on an emotional level. Emotionally intelligent people tend to have good instincts because they are in touch with the emotional aspects of experiences. Experience is the best teacher in life, so knowing how something made you feel in the past, helps you deal with it if it happens again.
Better Suited for Setbacks
Along any path to success, there are going to be setbacks and roadblocks. Emotional intelligence is what keeps you from getting absorbed in failure and self-doubt. Holding yourself together emotionally is the only way to turn failure into a worthwhile learned lesson. That’s how we learn. That’s how we get better.
Read: Emotional Intelligence: Is It More Important than your IQ?
More Satisfied
Having a better understand of how you feel and why, the essence of emotional intelligence, leads to more personal satisfaction in what it is that you do. The key here is figuring out what it is that makes you happy. Maybe you don’t love the industry you work in, but you love what it is that you do. Emotional intelligence is the key to seeing the silver lining in any situation.
Read: 11 Traits Of People With High Emotional Intelligence
More Motivated
When you’re aware, connected, and satisfied with what you do – motivation becomes an almost automatic response. Motivation is crucial to any level of success, whether it is doing chores around the house or becoming the CEO of the company you work for. Nothing gets you out bed in the morning like having a life you love living. Maybe that in itself is the true definition of success?