How I was Wrong about Emotional Intelligence

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲.

𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗿𝘆.

I want to stay in control.

Let me analyze the situation.

Think more deeply.

And take a rational decision.

I don’t want to be uncomfortable.

Let me push away the emotion.

Distract myself.

I don't want to feel.

But by shutting down my anger and sadness emotions, I also muted my joy.

I numbed myself.

Emotionally, I was as flat as a horizontal line.

5 years ago, I thought Emotional Intelligence meant not feeling any 'negative' emotions.

I couldn’t be more wrong.

Emotional Intelligence is not about pushing away emotions. It's about digging deeper and trying to understand our own emotions.

They give information about how we feel and what we want.

Useful information for decision-making, when rational analysis isn't enough.

After reading a lot in the last years, now I understand the power of balancing IQ and EQ.

And I'm not the only one:

"𝟳𝟰% 𝗼𝗳 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗘𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁-𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹."

(Source: Capgemini resource institute, 2019)

Keywords: analytics, data, data science, entrepreneurship, personal development