Magic of Emotional Intelligence - Part 14
Benefits of High EQ

©Arlene R. Taylor, PhD     www.ArleneTaylor.org

In his book Emotional Intelligence at Work (2006), Dahlip Singh, PhD, pointed out that building EQ skills in life can help you in many ways. You can maximize your own productivity; avoid, minimize, and/or resolve conflict; handle change effectively; and exhibit empowering behaviors. You can also manage your emotions and feelings to help self-regulate brain chemicals and hormones—increasing both intuition and clarity.

EQ skills help create emotional competence as you:

• Tackle emotional upsets, avoiding emotional exhaustion or “stuffing it.”
• Develop optimum levels of self-esteem—neither over- nor under-inflated.
• Select tactful responses to emotional stimuli, knowing that sometimes no immediate response is most appropriate: you simply observe and learn.
• Handle egoism by taking initiative to increase your self-awareness.

EQ skills help develop desirable behavioral characteristics such as:

• A healthy superego that promotes moral integrity and appropriate social standards.
• Awareness of how others perceive you, neither over-estimating nor under-estimating your knowledge and competence.
• An ability to delay immediate gratification for a larger and more desirable long-term goal.
• Adaptability, understanding that the only constant in life is change.
• Flexibility, knowing that “more than one road leads to Rome.”

EQ skills aid in developing emotional maturity, helping you:

• Recognize and respond to emotional stimuli of low intensity without needing a “hit over the head” before you recognize the emotion.
• Show appropriate empathy, e.g., not merely acknowledging that someone is struggling.
• Manage interpersonal relationships effectively, including the ability to avoid or walk away from abusive situations or environments, asking for help as needed.
• Tend to “live at joy” most of the time, being thankful and grateful.
• Avoid becoming incapacitated by the choices of others.
• Communicate positive emotions through mindset, self-talk, and affirmations.

Hone your EQ skills by using them consistently in all your interpersonal interactions, allowing others—especially those who are younger—the opportunity to observe your EQ role-modeling in real time. You may be the only person they know who is showing high levels of EQ. These skills can help you leave your corner of Planet Earth a better place than you found it. What an opportunity! What a legacy!