The benefits of emotional intelligence when it comes to life, in general, can not be overstated. It is crucial to living and achieving a better life. This is when we consider the fact that we humans want to make the world a better place.
“Lovely thing to learn from water. ‘Adjust yourself in every situation and in any shape’. But most importantly, always find out your own way to flow. – A.P. J Abdul Kalam.”
What do we stand to gain when we are emotionally intelligent? Coming from a positive perspective.
The more intelligent our emotions get the more we benefit out of life. It serves us like an inner asset that we carry around and gets to use whenever the need arises.
Emotional intelligence serves us in so many different ways just like water, and our ability to be in charge of our emotions in different contexts and roles as life presents them, whether in our personal or professional lives is dependent on how high or low it is.
There are major benefits we get from being emotionally savvy which ranges from our personal lives to our professional lives. Funny enough it is required in both aspects.
The benefits of emotional intelligence (personal and professional lives) include:
- EI helps us to manage stress which saves us time and money.
We might be neglecting this very aspect of its advantage. The fact that it saves us time and money on a personal level.
Emotional break down can bring about one being admitted into a hospital which eats up time and money. The Time spent on thinking and worrying over issues that went wrong can never be recovered.
Staying away from the hospital as a result of emotional trauma saves us time and money.
Imagine spending two weeks in the hospital as a result of emotional trauma caused by heartbreak or depression.
Definitely, bills must be paid and what of the two weeks spent on the hospital bed. That is a whole lot of time.
Being emotionally savvy can save us such scenarios. As it enables the mind to absorb emotional stress when they try to take us unaware.
But it doesn’t just save us money and time on a personal level, on a professional level, it saves companies money and time because quarrels and fights that can lead to injury between employees will hardly occur because everyone has his or her emotions under control. Managing stress is of the top benefits of emotional intelligence in our lives as we are in one way or the other always faced with different challenges
- EI gives us the advantage to be a step ahead by influencing others
Whether on a personal level or professional level, it’s easier to influence others when you influence their emotions especially when their emotions are not as intelligent as yours. Stay humble and don’t brag about it, but it’s a true fact which gives you an edge over others. You using it for the right purpose at the right time and for the right persons is what sets you apart.
What makes us different is our individuality, and being emotionally intelligent adds more to our unique traits which put us at an advantage over others whose emotions are not savvy.
For instance, issues might arise and then everyone is worried and in fear, or in a case where anxiety takes over. Being able to calm others in such situations projects you in front of them as one who is better or smarter or even a leader.
At least that’s how they might view it, and from that very day, you would have won the heart of many who would wish to come closer to become a friend. That’s what we benefit when we are emotionally intelligent, it helps to increase our optimism in times of challenges. Though understanding and influencing others may be one of the benefits of emotional intelligence, it could, on the other hand, be a dark side of emotional intelligence when not rightly used.
- EI creates within us an unconscious emotional self-awareness
One of the most challenging issues people tend not to deal with is finding out how strong and weak they can be within.
Emotional intelligence makes us aware of what our strengths and weaknesses are which gives us an advantage when people try to use them as a weapon to cast us down or make us feel less important.
Here we get to reflect on our lives from time to time to know how much better we have improved over time. When we are aware of ourselves, it’s hard for someone to make us think otherwise or less because we already know. Understanding oneself and being self-aware is one of the benefits of emotional intelligence is very crucial when it comes to us taking care of ourselves, improving our lives and changing our strategies on how we approach life.
- EI helps us have better control over our actions
Being aware of self is not just enough, striving to control our actions when the need arises is a task which the emotional intelligence forces us to do.
Have you ever been in that one situation where you have sat back to think through your life having identified your weaknesses and then you come to that very conclusion that you would never repeat such act and then suddenly you see yourself getting out of control to repeat the same?
Yes, it happens to a whole lot of us.
One of the benefits of Emotional intelligence is that it helps us to keep our emotions in check when we try to get out of control in a heat of events.
This can occur when we have arguments with friends or strangers or with colleagues at work. A high level of Emotional Intelligence (EI) is what stabilizes our manner of approaching issues that tend to hurt us deep down that on a normal may cause us to over-react.
- EI helps to motivate oneself
Emotional intelligence as Daniel Goleman says it is the ability to motivate oneself. For us to have a drive and determination to do something it means that our ‘drive’ must be connected to our emotions which gives us reasons to keep working hard day in and night.
As emotional intelligence discusses a variety of issues, it also helps us to have a self-push to do what ordinarily we feel reluctant to do with our normal reasoning. This could be in our personal lives where we set targets which we desire to reach.
When given a task to handle, of course, we might lose hope or give up when we try to do it and fail. It is usually the emotional intelligence to keep pushing that keeps us on the task even when it seems like we have no solution.
We see ourselves still trying, thinking, searching for a way out and making sure we stay cool in the process knowing that a win for us is a win for everyone which in return brings about self-fulfillment which invariably prepares us for the next difficult task we might be given in future.
Motivating oneself is one of the benefits of emotional intelligence that allow us to achieve things on our own without waiting for other people’s approval of our ability.
- EI enables us to clearly express ourselves
Self-expression is in a way a difficult task for a lot of people. But for someone with high Emotional intelligence, he knows that expressing himself clearly makes him unique in the sense that he weighs his thoughts thoroughly, considering its effects and impact before he spits them out and this enables him not to feel any regret should the words are seen by others as inappropriate which can turn around to hurt his emotions –in this case, he doesn’t feel bad about it because it was a thought-through process.
As one of the benefits of Emotional intelligence, it enables us to remain unmoved when such situations arise because we said it after an in-depth consideration of its presumed feedback. That’s an added smartness to our emotions and can be one of the dark sides of emotional intelligence because in a case where you are expected to feel remorseful and sorry and maybe feel hurt and apologize, you stay unmoved.
And in a case where you decide to apologize, you may do so not because you really feel so but because you want to calm situations down.
In the end, some people may tend to love our guts and others will hate it.
- EI enhances and increases stability in our relationships
Our relationship with people is made better with Emotional intelligence, in the sense that we become better at understanding others both in and outside the work environment.
When there is empathy, there is compassion and when there is understanding. Responding to other peoples’ concerns is a trait from an emotionally intelligent person.
We will tend to collaborate, integrate and connect easily with colleagues in a work setting. That is an enhancement that can help improve productivity, quality, and production in service and product.
Teamwork and spirit are enhanced when those in the team understand human nature which in turn brings about better communication with the aim to solve a given problem together.
Couples with high emotional intelligence will tend to understand each other better than those with a low level of emotional intelligence.
They will seem to have fewer personal challenges that deal with their personal problems which affect emotions. They will seem to flow easily with each other.
And even if it’s a case where just one is emotionally intelligent, s/he will always find ways by which the relationship can be harmonized.
This is possible because one of the benefits of Emotional Intelligence is that it helps to find ways through which harmony can be introduced in times of challenges.
- EI enables us to become a good leader of people
A leader is not necessarily the smartest person, but the person who tries to help others by bringing out the best in them. By doing so wins over their hearts which causes them to work with their whole hearts.
This can be in a club, school or work where you are appointed a leader of a group
On a personal level, you could be among friends, and because of your level of emotional intelligence, they would want you to be the one to lead them even without an election.
It happens, I mean I have seen it happen where they wanted to appoint a leader and everyone is pointing at one particular person to lead them. Why is that so? The answer is hidden in how that person carries himself or herself in terms of dealing with other peoples’ problems in a real-life issue.
On the professional level, one of the benefits of emotional intelligence is that it enables you to be a good leader of people where ever you happen to find yourself even when you do not have any position.
Bottom line – Make a decision on EI
You might want to begin to work on your emotional intelligence today. It does not cause you much to begin, it will only cost you a decision which is one you alone can make within you. Yes, it might cost you money in a way to learn if you wish to learn faster, but that brings value to you, which is a good thing.
Of course, it’s normal that there are courses and classes we can attend that can help us improve on our emotional intelligence, we have counselors and therapist who stand as advisors to us when we run into issues, all these are ways by which we improve our levels of emotional intelligence.
You only have to decide on getting better and them on the method that would serve to help you grow. Self-education or Outsourced education can be beneficial to you not just for today but for your future and for the benefit of those around you including your family.
Regardless of the benefits of emotional intelligence, if you do not make a decision on improving on it, you will never take any action.
Take action today and make that decision to work on your emotions, you start by taking baby steps. Life is dynamic and you have to be intelligent to understand its dynamism.
What other benefits of emotional intelligence do you have in mind? Let us know in the comment section.
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