Beyond Your Success: Why Emotional Intelligence Is The Best Asset To Cultivate

You’re a workaholic. Whether you’re just starting off in your career or you’ve climbed the corporate ladder, you’re striving to be successful.

You’re coming in to work early and staying late. Your inbox is clear, not an email left unread. There’s not a box on your to-do list that isn’t marked complete by the end of the day or the end of the work week.

And let’s be honest, the work week doesn’t stop just because it’s Friday. You are more than willing to put in the extra time and effort into the weekend as well.

You’re getting your own work done, taking on extra projects, and helping team members. The numbers speak for themselves.

You’re reading the right books, taking the right classes, and meeting with the right people. But what else can you work on to be even more successful?

Here’s why emotional intelligence is the best asset to cultivate.

What is Emotional Intelligence?

Having emotional intelligence means that you are able to understand, use, and manage your own emotions in positive ways. This means being able to better communicate, reduce stress, empathize, reduce conflict, and overcome certain situations or challenges.

Emotional intelligence makes it easier for someone to think before speaking or doing. It’s also a way to better understand your own strengths and weaknesses.

Why You Should Care About Emotional Intelligence

Pay

You can benefit a lot just by having higher emotional intelligence. Research has shown that people with higher emotional intelligence make an average of $29,000 more than people with lower emotional intelligence.

Progress

If money isn’t a motivator for you, there are several other benefits associated with higher emotional intelligence. People with higher emotional intelligence are able to tell the difference between learning from their mistakes and blaming them on other circumstances.

Collaboration

Communication and collaboration are key in any type of relationship, especially when it comes to your career. Most jobs require constant communication and collaboration within your team and across different teams in the company. Having a high emotional intelligence can help with this.

Emotional intelligence helps individuals think prior to acting upon things. This means that they’re able to think before they speak and think before they act. They’re also more willing and able to see someone else’s side by stepping into their shoes. This allows them to be able to see their peers’ or clients’ wants and needs more effectively.

How to Increase Your Emotional Intelligence

As with most things in life, practice makes perfect. You’re not going to get better at basketball, volleyball, soccer, or any other sport without putting a little time and effort into practicing it.

Practicing how to respond or act in certain situations will help you increase your emotional intelligence. For example, if an argument or disagreement occurs, before jumping to conclusions, try putting yourself in the other person’s shoes. Take a step back, pause, breathe, and listen to the other side before trying to always win.

When a mistake occurs, take time to reflect on what you could’ve done differently to avoid the mistake from happening. All you can do is reflect and move forward to ensure it doesn’t happen again in the future.

Next Steps

Emotional Intelligence fits naturally into building success for yourself and your career. That being said, you should be able to use the emotional intelligence you build and blend your personal and professional life. Emotional intelligence allows you to become more self-aware of yourself and your relationships. It’s no wonder that emotional intelligence is one of the best skills to cultivate for success.

If you’re interested in learning more about building your emotional intelligence, reach out to us today to set up a consultation for anxiety therapy or individual counseling.