6 Habits of highly emotionally intelligent individuals

Emotional intelligence, alongside with any form of intelligence, is a critical factor in one’s success and happiness.

The ability to comprehend, control and correctly express emotions is a life-long process. Imagine a world in which you were incapable of expressing how much you love your favorite sport or a world where you couldn’t detect that your boss was upset with you? Wouldn’t that be very odd?!

Some psychologists have even gone as far to note that emotional intelligence might even be more important than IQ. Research done at the prestigious Harvard Business School reported that people with extremely high IQ but low EQ consistently underperformed other people. Some researchers believe that this form of intelligence can be learned and strengthen, while others state that it’s an inborn characteristic. What do you think?

Developing one’s emotional intelligence is a task we should all embark on, as it will only further benefit us. 

Here are a few common habits of highly emotionally intelligent individuals:

1 - They’re positive people

They don’t invest too much time or energy on the negativity, even if they clearly see it.
They aim to seek a solution that they’re capable of fulfilling within their own control reach (aka they’re not control freaks!).

2 - They surround themselves with positive people

They don’t spend a lot of time around complainers, depressed people and gossipers. They learn to avoid negative people like the plague.

3 - They are able to set boundaries and be assertive when necessary

Although being positive and friendly people, they are well aware that being a push-over will only bring unnecessary stress for them. They demonstrate politeness, consideration and generosity but also know when to say “no”. They think before speaking and don’t act immediately upon their emotions. When they feel emotional, they give themselves times to cool down.

4 - Forward thinking and willing to let go of the past

They’re constantly thinking of all the possibilities the future has to offer. They learn from their past failures and move on-they don’t dwell in sorrow.

5 - They look for ways to make life more fun, happy and interesting

They’re aware of what makes them happy and try to spread happiness wherever they go. They find enjoyment in brightening another person’s day.

6 - They’re selective on how they spend their energy

This ties into the fact that they aren’t pushovers and they learn from their failures. These people know what’s worth investing their energy into and what’s not worth it. This, in return, allows them to not overstress themselves.

7 - CONTINUALLY LEARNING AND GROWING TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE.

Highly emotionally intelligent people are lifelong learners, constantly growing, evolving, open to new ideas, and always willing to learn from others. Being critical thinkers, they are open to changing their minds if someone presents an idea that is a better fit. While they are open to ideas from others, and continuously gathering new information, they ultimately trust themselves and their own judgment to make the best decision for themselves.