Emotional intelligence is the capacity to identify, comprehend, and manage our own feelings and the feelings of individuals in manners that are positive. We may think that being book smart and having a high intelligence quotient or IQ will guarantee a happy, successful and fulfilled life. If we look around, there is an assortment of individuals in every area of the world who are brilliant academically but are inept at work or in their relationships and handling people. Academic intelligence isn’t enough on its own to succeed in life. And when we’re talking about our personal finances and our quest for financial freedom, it will be our emotional intelligence, not our IQ that will allow us to succeed. Although the term emotional intelligence is largely heard and used with regards to leadership and managing people, there are elements of IE that play a major role in how we look at, feel about and use money.
When it comes to success and happiness in life, emotional intelligence makes it possible to reach our career and personal goals, succeed in work, and build relationships. People who are emotionally intelligent are able to recognize the emotional state of others as well as their own state to create a connection and form relationships. For the purpose of financial success, it’s the ability for us to recognize our emotional state that needs to be the focus. Emotional Intelligence is made up of five elements: self-regulation, self-awareness, motivation, empathy and social skills. Focusing on and mastering the first three elements is what will enable us to have control over our finances.
- Self-Consciousness is the first part of emotional intelligence. It’s the capability to know which emotions we’re feeling and why. Whenever we understand our emotions, it’s easier for us to recognize and control our feelings and prevent our emotions from ruling us. Additionally, we become more confident as we don’t let our feelings get out of control.
- Self-Regulation is the capability to control our feelings and impulses and select the emotions that we would like to experience rather than being the victim of whatever feelings arise. When we’re able to manage our psychological state, it becomes much easier for us to think before we act and this prevents us from making impulsive and careless decisions.
- The 3rd part of emotional intelligence is motivation. This is about utilizing our emotions to stay positive, optimistic and persistent as opposed to negative and pessimistic. When we have a high level of emotional intelligence, we have a tendency to be very motivated, productive and efficient in everything we do. Additionally, we utilize our emotions positively to take the correct actions to persist and reach our targets even in the face of significant adversity or difficulty.
Just as academic intelligence can be developed, so can emotional intelligence. Mastering these three elements will surely get us on the road to financial freedom, but without a doubt, the conscious effort to master all five elements will enable us to live a better, happier and more successful and fulfilled lifestyle overall.
Before you go, I want to invite you to join my FREE email list community. By signing up today, you’ll get notifications of my latest posts. Plus, access to my FREE Resources Library. Click Here to sign up!
