An introduction to emotional intelligence

Intelligence is a little misunderstood in our society. Intelligence consists of being able to learn, understand, plan, reason and adapt, in simple terms: being able to use the knowledge we get. In that sense, we are all intelligent.

Intelligence is a complex trait. It is influenced by genetics, but it depends a lot on the environment. We are all born with potential, but our environments vary. While that feels unfair, conditions can always improve and sometimes we can help.

Intelligence can grow through learning and practice, therefore it can be seen as a skill. Everyone is intelligent, but some people had the chance to develop their abilities earlier or had more resources. The good news is that we are human, and as long as we live, we will learn.

Alright, we defined intelligence, we agreed that intelligence is a skill and that all humans can learn. That being said I would love to move onto defining a very important related skill and that is Emotional Intelligence (or EQ). This is the first part of a bigger series centered around Emotional Education which consists of learning about feelings and understanding ourselves a little better.

Intelligence and EQ slightly overlap: they both represent being able to understand, adapt, solve and apply, but EQ isn't intelligence, it is a wide variety of social skills such as being able to understand our own feelings. EQ is important because it gives us insight and a little retrospection. We understand why we are sad or why someone might be angry, we know when to give someone space or how to act in a relationship. Being emotionally intelligent doesn't mean you will never get hurt, it means that you know what you feel and what to do when you don't feel okay. We will later in this series proceed with emotions, how even "bad" feelings help us a lot and what exactly their role is in our lives.