Which do you think is more important, IQ or EQ?
Imagine you are alone on a boat in the middle of the river when the boat suddenly starts to sink. There are no people around and you don’t know how to swim. What will you do? Will you try your best to learn how to swim or will you shout at the top of your lungs hoping that somebody out there will hear you? Will you try to stay afloat by holding onto something? How will you answer the question? If you are the average person, you will probably come up with several different answers on how to survive and get out of the situation. But if you are a high IQ individual, your answer will simply be to stop imagining things.
Intelligence Quotient
Yes, the question is a riddle but it is also used as one of the standardized questions to gauge your IQ. Your intelligence quotient, IQ for short, is a number that pertains to human intelligence. It is your ability to think and reason. The average IQ is 100. Getting a score of 100 and above on an IQ test means you are smarter than an average person.
A person with high IQ is very intelligent. Thus, it is natural to assume that a high IQ individual will be highly successful in life. Unfortunately, a high IQ does not guarantee success in life. What IQ measures is just the potential of a person. There are other factors that are needed for success. For example, a good singing voice does not guarantee fame and success. The person needs to have the passion and the perseverance to achieve his or her goals. And more than the IQ, many successful people will tell you that it is better to have a high EQ instead.
Emotional Quotient
Your emotional quotient, EQ for short, is your ability to identify, control and express your emotions. It is how you handle your interpersonal relationships. It is how you communicate with other people.
People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
– Maya Angelou
While IQ will help you land a good job, it is EQ that will determine how far you go. People have the tendency to follow people who make them feel good. So, high EQ people become leaders in their organization. In business, people buy emotions not products. Just take a look at advertising campaigns; the more successful a product, the higher the emotional appeal their marketing approach is.
Most importantly, people with high EQ are not afraid to fail. They understand that failure is part of success. High EQ individuals stumble, they fail but they rise again. They are willing to move forward despite the odds. This strength of character is a necessary component for success.
Success consists of going from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.
– Winston Churchill
Individuals with high EQ are not just successful but also happier individuals. Thus, it is important to develop your EQ in order to achieve emotional wellness.
Updated version. First Published in Pinoy Smart Living on 09.03.2019