It wasn't until a few years that I understood that IQ, which stands for intelligence quotient, is only one key factor in a person's success. That there's something called EQ, which stands for emotional quotient, that's equally important.
Around six or seven years ago I read the results of a study about emotional intelligence. What is emotional intelligence? It's summed up like this:
1. Self management.
2. Social awareness.
3. Self-awareness.
4. Relationship management.
Many of you know people who have a high IQ, people who are absolutely brilliant, who have achieved very little in life. They might be the brightest bulb in the box, but they enjoy very little in the way of social or financial success. In fact when I was in prison I was living alongside of doctors, lawyers and even rocket scientists who were amazingly intelligent. I wondered what the hell they were doing in prison with so many of us who had little or no education.
But as I got better acquainted with them they seemed to have the idea that they were superior to their fellow man. Many were arrogant. Or always angry and seemed to think their intelligence gave them carte blanche to treat others however they chose. Many of them were there for theft, financial crimes or fraud, crimes where they expressed their high IQ by feeling they were better or deserved more than others without having to put much effort.
Today I know many people who have little formal education who are wealthy, successful, and pillars of the community. And they all did it through knowing how to get along with other people and knowing that if they treated them right they could help each other succeed.
It's nice to have a high IQ. And it's even nicer if one has the emotional IQ to go along with it.
Remember we all feel like we're important. And we should recognize that when we're dealing with others.
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