I Think I Finally Understand Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is a concept that has become very fashionable these days. However, we are not always clear about what that term refers to. What does it mean to have emotional intelligence? How do I know if I have emotional intelligence? Read on to learn more about this topic!

Reviewed and approved by the psychologist Gema Sánchez Cuevas.

Written by Sofia Alcausa Hidalgo

Last update: 15 May, 2023

Perhaps it would be pretentious for someone to say, “I think that I finally understand emotional intelligence.” Perhaps because emotional intelligence or how we manage our feelings and emotions in a positive and effective way is a long road that never ends.

While it is true that some people are born better able to handle problems and emotions, no one has to settle for struggling with emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence can be learned

Perhaps that person that seems so positive to us, who knows how to solve their problems in an exemplary manner, has had no other choice but to learn it. Life has put them through ordeals in which they had no other choice but to address them. Problems they had to understand…

But we all have those tools within us, often without knowing it. We just have to get down to work. Read about emotional intelligence, observe and learn from others who have developed their emotional intelligence. So rest assured, emotional intelligence can be learned. You just have to really want it.

When that happens, when we know that we are slowly learning emotional intelligence, we start to see things differently. We get angry less, we don’t cry over nonsense. We feel as if we had gone up the stairway to heaven, just as the title of a beautiful song that we all have in our memory.

How to learn emotional intelligence: 4 golden rules

In the same way that it takes years and effort to develop a gym body or get a degree, emotional intelligence takes time. How can we learn?

• Surround yourself with emotionally intelligent people. In this life everything spreads. When we surround ourselves with emotionally intelligent people, we too become more emotionally intelligent. Try it out!
• Learn from the elderly. Older people are a well of wisdom. They have lived many experiences and know what life is. Not surprisingly, older people have been and remain a reference in many cultures and civilizations for the young.
• Learn at your own pace. Sure, you would like to have all the emotional intelligence in one shot, but everyone learns at their own pace. So do not compare yourself with anyone.
• Imagine limiting situations in your life and what you would do in such cases. What would you do if you were out of work? How would you act if you saw that you no had choice but to sleep on the street and in a somewhat bad area? Imagine as much as you want. It can take away the fear of a lot of everyday things that you are not able to face simply because you have not stopped to think how you might overcome them in an emotionally intelligent way.

Moral: Do you want to stay stagnant and not try to overcome your obstacles because you think they will surpass you? Don’t you want to tell yourself: I finally understand emotional intelligence!? Don’t you want to feel a powerful force inside of you that deeply overwhelms you… to climb those stairs in one shot… towards heaven!?