15 Phrases That Will Help Us With Emotional Intelligence
For several years we have heard repeatedly about the importance of developing emotional intelligence. We’re so fed up that, in the end, we just know that there are a lot of skills we have to achieve, but we don’t know how to get there, whether we’re on the right track or if we’ve already achieved it.
The truth is that being emotional and intelligent beings can seem quite complicated. However, this depends, in large part, on how we do our training.
Therefore, in this article we want to propose in a simple way the possibility of reaching part of this great skill, trying to understand the following 15 sentences.
Emotional intelligence in 15 sentences
- “When I say controlling emotions, I mean really stressful and disabling emotions. Feeling emotions is what makes our life rich”. Daniel Goleman.
Our emotions shape our character, our way of being and how others see us.
- “All learning has an emotional basis.” Plato.
There is not a single moment in our daily lives when we are free from emotions, even if we do not know how to identify them. Everything we learn in our life is, in part, determined by our underlying emotional state and its origins.
- “There is no correlation between IQ and emotional empathy. They are controlled by different parts of the brain.” Daniel Goleman.
There is no direct relationship between what we understand by academic intelligence and emotional intelligence. A person can be highly intelligent and excel in school, yet not excel in their personal life.
- “Trust, like art, never has all the answers, but it’s open to all questions.” Earl Gray Stevens.
Only by asking the best questions can we get the best answers. This is determined based on our awareness of what we think, say and do in front of others and ourselves.
- “Who does not understand a look, will not understand a long explanation either”. Arabic proverb.
This phrase is one of the best definitions of empathy out there. We know that empathy is one of the main pillars of emotional intelligence. Feeling how others feel and knowing how to use it is just as important as self-knowledge.
- “Emotions are contagious. We all know this from experience. After a good coffee with a friend, you feel good. When you meet a rude clerk in a store, you feel bad.” Daniel Goleman.
We can neutralize our senses, but we are not able to escape our feelings and emotions. Whatever we do, we will feel good or bad in different degrees, serving different levels of the same continuum.
- “The emotional brain responds to an event faster than the thinking brain.” Daniel Goleman.
And this is because, as Blaise Pascal said: “The heart has reasons that reason itself does not know”.
- “Let’s not forget that small emotions are the great captains of our lives, and we respect them without realizing it.” Vincent Van Gogh.
Feeling and understanding why, how, where, when and what we can do is the only way to lead our lives without the harm that emotions can do to us.
- “Take care of your own emotions and never underestimate them.” Robert Henri.
Emotions are powerful weapons that we can use for or against us.
- “Be aware that, right now, you are creating. You are creating your next moment based on what you feel and think. That’s what’s real.” Doc Childre.
In fact, our current reality is based on every second that passes and walks before us, shaping our future.
- “Use the pain as a stone in your path, not as a campground.” Alan Cohen.
Empty your interior of present absences, collect the stone and take it to the next station so that you know you are capable of progressing. To express this more clearly: even a foot in the ass can push us forward.
- “It’s important to understand that emotional intelligence is not the opposite of intelligence, it’s not the triumph of the heart over the head, it’s the intersection of both.” David Caruso.
The truth is, the heart tells us what needs to be done, but reason tells us what to avoid and helps us to understand. Keeping heart and reason working together should be our greatest aspiration.
- “The essential difference between emotion and reason is that emotion leads to action, while reason leads to conclusions.” Donald Calne.
Feelings help us move forward as we develop a better way to interact with them. Thus, knowing ourselves in both aspects encourages us to be more effective in making decisions and directing our lives.
- “As human beings we all want to be happy and free from misery, we all learned that the key to happiness is inner peace. The biggest obstacles to inner peace are disturbing emotions such as anger, attachment, fear and distrust, while love and compassion are the sources of peace and happiness”. Dalai Lama.
There are healthy and unhealthy emotions that empower us and that do not empower us. We must welcome joy, sadness, surprise and boredom, while we must avoid anger, revenge, hatred and depression.
- “True compassion doesn’t just mean feeling someone else’s pain, but being motivated to let go of it.” Daniel Goleman.
Our heart does not allow the option of others to feel bad. As far as possible we should try to avoid all suffering that we are aware of.
Images courtesy of nuvolanevicata and Alta Oosthuizen
