Recent studies have shown that emotional intelligence (or EQ as it is often called) can play an important role in your life. While earlier theories of personality focused mostly on cognitive skills like reasoning, self-awareness, and perception, newer research suggests that there are other underlying qualities influencing how you interact with people.

Emotional quotients or EQ’s look at how well you use emotions to motivate yourself and others, and they suggest that being emotionally intelligent isn’t just about knowing what emotion someone else is feeling, but also recognizing which ones you yourself are experiencing and why.

Research shows that having higher levels of EQ can help you achieve your goals, reduce stress, enjoy relationships more, and live longer. It also seems to be increasingly valuable in today’s world, where social media has made everyone a potential source of information and criticism, and technology makes it easy to stay connected even when we're apart.

It's worth noting here that although many experts refer to EQ as "the skill" or "qualitative strength," these terms may actually undermine the concept by implying that there is one right way to have it and that anyone who doesn't possess it must be deficient.

This article will talk more about the different types of emotional intelligence and how they apply to your everyday life, but first let us take a quick look at some examples of things that are typically considered to be within our control.

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Finding your passion and purpose

We spend our lives trying to find what we want, hoping that something will pull us in and away from it is knowing how to quit. And while this can be fun (for the most part), it doesn’t set aside too many hours of your life.

Finding your passion and purpose is much more important than just spending time doing things you enjoy. It’s about investing yourself in activities that make you feel good and bring out the best in you.

This may sound cliché, but true passions are always worth it. They’re hard to come by, but they’ll keep drawing you back until you have them.

You know when people talk about their “passion”? That's emotional intelligence.

Emotional quotient or EQ as some call it, is your ability to recognize, understand, and manage your own emotions as well as those of others.

Being more authentic

There is an argument that says having high emotional intelligence (EI) is better than having low EI. This theory suggests that being able to control your emotions is actually a bigger deal than just keeping yourself in check. According to this view, it’s not enough to be aware of your own feelings; you have to also be aware of other people's feelings.

This sounds complicated but there are some basic ways to understand it. You will know how to do this when you feel confident in your relationships.

If you want to enjoy your close friendships then you must develop your emotional literacy or EQ. In fact, several studies suggest that higher EQ is linked to happier social relations.

You will find that most experts agree that empathy is one of the key components of EQ. This is described as understanding what others think, feel and need from you.

While it may sound difficult to achieve, there are many strategies for developing your empathetic skills. For example, reading fiction stories with strong themes can help you learn about different experiences.

It could be a good way to explore different emotions.

Less stress

Overcoming your emotional in-abilities can help reduce overall stress in your life. When you are experiencing less stress, it may be easier to deal with other challenges that arise.

Studies show that people who have higher EQs experience lower levels of stress than those who do not.

People with high EI tend to use different strategies for coping with situations. They may recognize when a situation is beyond their control and therefore avoid getting overwhelmed, or they may realize that someone else can handle a task, so they do not get involved.

They also use effective time management techniques to focus on only one thing at a time, which helps reduce confusion and anxiety over what needs to be done next.

Overall, having more emotional intelligence can help you manage your stress and feel happier.

Better relationships

Recent studies show that emotional intelligence is related to how well you connect with others, and this connection can go both ways — not only do higher EQ people spend more time interacting with other people, they also feel happier when they are together.

This seems logical, doesn’t it? If someone isn’t happy, then why would anyone want to be around them?

But what if we looked at it from the opposite side? What if being unhappy didn’t motivate people to hang out anymore? What if everyone just gave each other their empty smiles and left quickly because there was nothing worth staying for?

We wouldn’t have many movie sequels or spring break trips. We’d probably see less social interaction too. And we’d all be pretty depressed!

So, while having high levels of EI may make you happier when you're by yourself, it could actually have some negative consequences in your everyday life. You might be better off without those extra skills since they could hurt your relationships.

Do not bottle up your feelings

It is very important to be aware of how much emotion you are holding in at any given time.

It can easily get out of control, especially if you’re not careful with it. When you're feeling emotional, make sure to look after yourself by taking breaks or seeking help for whatever may be bothering you.

Avoid using alcohol or drugs as this will only add to your mental health issues. Also, try talking about what's going on so that you feel more supported.

Emotions come and go, but having high levels of EI helps you understand why this happens and how to manage them. You'll also learn when to take action and when to let things run its course.

Learn to laugh

Learning how to be happier is difficult, but there are things you can do to reduce your emotional intelligence (EI). One of these is learning how to laugh.

Many people think that being funny is an easy way to make others happy, but it’s not. It takes a lot of work and practice.

But why would someone who’s hilarious want to be laughed at? Obviously, being able to make other people feel good is a nice thing to have, but only if they�efen give you credit for it.

The truth is, most people don’t like humorists. You see this when people avoid talking about politics or football after a joke was made. Or when someone gets upset with a comedian because his/her jokes didn’t sit well with them.

Why is this? Because we’re insecure. We’re afraid we won’t know what will make someone else laugh, so we don’t try our best to be humorous. We fear we’ll fail.

Another reason is that we worry no one will find our jokes funny, which makes us unhappy too. This can also be due to perfectionism — we believe everyone should enjoy our jokes, and we’re nervous we’ll flub them and waste time trying to fix them.

Be optimistic

Even if life is not going your way, you still need to be an enthusiastic person. You have to believe that things will work out in the end.

It’s difficult to feel positive when there are problems at work or family issues that require attention, but we all have resources we can use to help us deal with our situations.

These resources include ourselves (emotional intelligence) and others (support systems).

By being aware of our own limitations and those of other people, we can avoid falling into a negative state.

We can also use self-awareness to recognize what parts of our lives are working well and add something else to improve it.

Optimism can have a major influence on how happy and successful we are. It may sound like a cliché, but true optimism has never failed to make me happy.

Learn to say yes to things

Most people have a hard time saying no, which is why they offer their services free of charge or keep asking you for help with projects even after you’ve told them “no”.

If you want to grow professionally, you must learn how to say no to avoid being overloaded and overwhelmed. You will also need to develop the confidence to turn down work so that you do not overcommit yourself.

It can be difficult at times, but if you are able to identify something that feels wrong then it is better to pass and invest your energy in activities that feel right.