I'm thrilled to be here introducing you to something that can revolutionize how you perceive yourself, the people and world around you, and ultimately help you make progress in achieving your ambitions. This skill can help reshape the way you approach life goals. Emotional intelligence is incredibly essential, given that we experience around 400 emotions daily. It provides us with the ability to recognize and control our own and others' emotions in order to create positive outcomes. Having emotional intelligence means being aware of, and effectively responding to, your emotions. Such a skill can have a major influence on how you act and behave - whether or not you are conscious of these feelings - so it's important to recognize and manage them wisely.
Phineas Gage experienced an accident where he lost his emotional intelligence, so let me tell you about him. To help you understand how our brain works when it comes to emotions, I will explain the story of Phineas Gage. Though this might be a bit hard to demonstrate, given the microphone limitations. Phineas, known as one of the best foremen in the business, was constructing the Burlington Railroad in Vermont during the 1840s. Not just any average railroad builder, he had both skill and proficiency of building a railroad. Phineas was highly intelligent and had the people skills to match. His politeness and composure under pressure were two of his many qualities that enabled him to make quick work of the rocky terrain in order to lay tracks on schedule. People were eager to work alongside him due to his impressive abilities and amiable personality. Phineas, renowned for his hands-on approach to management, handled a tool known as a tamping iron (as long as this cane of mine here) crafted out of dense metal - resembling that of a crowbar - on this particular day. Using the tamping iron, Phineas and his team would start by cutting a hole in the rock and fill it with blasting powder. Afterwards, they'd cover the hole with sand and tamp it down using the metal tool. By doing this precise blast, a precise effect was created. On this day, Phineas was expecting his assistant to fill the hole with sand, however the loud noise from a train car behind him being overloaded with boulders caused a distraction. This disruption also prevented his assistant from completing the task and as a result, when he rammed the rod into the hole it set off an explosion that sent the rod flying through Phineas' head - travelling 100 feet before it landed in some bushes. The rod entered just beneath his left eye and his reformed skull is now on display at Harvard Medical School's medical library. With that we say goodbye to this cane and hello again to the microphone.
The remarkable story of Phineas is quite unusual; for his left orbital frontal cortex had been removed yet he survived the accident. Surprisingly, the part of the brain which was removed (this being his left orbital frontal cortex) was found amongst the bushes near where the injury occurred. Within five minutes of the rod traveling through his head, Phineas was shockingly sitting up under his own power. After registering his departure in the logbook, he described to the town doctor what happened to him. His wounds took roughly six months to heal completely before he was well enough to return back to work. The intelligence, interest in building the railroad, and personality of the man remained unchanged; however, one crucial element was absent: his ability to cope with emotions. Phineas used to be reliable and constant, but something changed. All of his emotions seemed to burst out of him at once resulting in him being angry, impulsive and unreliable; turning up late become a frequent occurrence. To understand the cause of this transformation in behavior requires looking into what happens in the brain. The signal from me speaking enters the brain at its base, as does any other sensation in the world. It then moves through your brain, reaching the limbic system where emotions are experienced. Any sound or physical feeling is processed at this level before it is fully acknowledged by you. Phineas' emotional brain remained intact; however, the part of his brain responsible for comprehending and responding to emotions had been damaged. In other words, he was still capable of feeling emotions as normal; accepting and understanding them was a challenge. Emotional intelligence is all about understanding and responding to our emotions. It is our hardwired capability as emotional creatures to quickly register and experience emotions before we can think logically or rationally about them. Examining how we respond to those emotions is ultimately what emotional intelligence is all about.
With ideas about this dating back to 1850s with Phineas Gage, why is this a TED idea? Why are we learning about it now? The answer lies in the fact that our brains are hardwired for it, but we live in a world which does not necessarily teach us what is good for us. "Do your child a favor and start them early on a regimen of sodas and other sugary carbonated beverages. Laboratory tests show that babies who begin drinking soda at an early age have a greater chance of fitting in during their preteen and teen years. Do yourself a favor too and begin now for guaranteed lifelong happiness!"; or so this Cola ad promoted. These ads send a similar message to the satirical one - that sugar can help dieting and curb food cravings, smoking is healthy and even DDT can be beneficial. Real examples include doctors claiming how good smokes are for us, or advertisements advocating the use of sugar for losing weight as well as curbing hunger. We grow up in a world where it is not common to teach us how to lead or embrace our full potential, with emotional intelligence being one of the capacities that often go unrecognized. Despite being taught the three R's at school, we are likely not equipped with all the skills we need for a successful and fulfilling life.
Despite the stereotype that people with high IQs have low EQs, emotional intelligence and your IQ are absolutely distinct from each other. You can have a high emotional intelligence but still a low IQ or vice versa. You could even be low in both and this cannot be said to occur together in any meaningful way. Emotional intelligence should not be confused with personality, even though they are often mistakenly linked. Personality is a fixed set of preferences and tendencies formed in early life - like your IQ - so an extrovert at 17 won't suddenly become an introvert at 40. Personality occurs in a part of the brain which is referred to by neurologists as "crystallized". This fixed aspect cannot be altered, similar to an individual's IQ. Both these traits are predetermined and not affected by any outside stimulus. Emotional intelligence differently lies in the brain as a pliable pathway - one that can modify and improve communication between the emotional and rational facets. When working on your emotional intelligence, neural connections expand and enable better information exchange between these two aspects of your mind. Hence, this is how we gain emotional intelligence.
Emotional intelligence consists of four areas of competence: personal and social. Personal competence involves awareness of one's own emotions and how to manage them, while social competence is being able to read and respond appropriately to other people's emotions. Statistically, these two components are key for successful emotional intelligence skills. Once you become aware of your emotions and take the blinders off, statistically there really aren't four skills - it's just two. It then becomes rather easy to do something productive with them once you have insight into how you're feeling. In a study conducted at the University of The Netherlands, they explored something many people are unaware of: the effects of cortical lesions on individuals. The results showed that those with cortical lesions experienced results beneath their awareness in a range of ways. The eyes of these people worked perfectly, and the signals from their optic nerves were sending back to the brain correctly. However, there was cortical lesion in their brains that prevented it from processing what they were seeing even though they could physically see perfectly, resulting in blindness. When people with sight are exposed to images of others expressing strong emotions, "mirror neurons" in their brains mirror those emotions and lead to an involuntary reaction - for example, a smile for someone smiling big or furrowing the brow when angry. This phenomenon is not something one can control. The MRIs of these blind people showed that they had an unexpected response similar to those with sight, astonishing the researchers into wondering "How can this be?" Further investigation into the results revealed an alternate pathway that branched out signals from the optic nerve, sending them to the limbic system. "Did you see something?" the people asked why they had cracked a smile and furrowed their brow so naturally. "No," the blind person replied, shaking their head, "I didn't. It was just a hunch." Many have walked into a room full of people and could sense the mood although would not be able to describe it — this is an example of emotional signals our brain interprets. Those with high emotional intelligence are very adept at deciphering such signals, which in turn motivate desired behavior.
It's clear why emotional intelligence is such an important element for success; the statistics prove it. Emotional intelligence is a foundational skill and these stats demonstrate how powerful this can be. So let me show you just how vital it is. Emotions are the primary motivator behind our actions and decisions. This is evidenced by the way all information passes through the ancient limbic system, located at the core of the brain. The importance of emotions is clear: they come first when it comes to influencing behavior. When you become aware of and can effectively manage your emotions, it has a lasting effect on all aspects of your life. This skill is the foundation for how you handle stress, give presentations, work with other people, and make decisions. Mastering your emotions is key in developing better results in all these areas. When it comes to work performance, emotional intelligence (EQ) is a major factor accounting for 60% of success. Specifically, 90% of the best performers have high EQ scores. The skeptics in the room question whether having a high EQ (Emotional Intelligence) necessarily translates to top performance. The answer is not necessarily - other factors such as experience and ability may play a part. However, emotional intelligence is an effective route for leading people to the desired behavior due to how our brains are wired.
Emotional intelligence scores of individuals begin high as individual contributors, peak when they become middle managers and then quickly decrease as they reach higher roles in management such as supervisors, with CEOs scoring the lowest. This is according to research published in the Harvard Business Review. High emotional intelligence (EQs) is one of the most important features in predicting performance, especially for those at the top. Research reveals that 90% of top performers possess a high emotional intelligence. Therefore, it can be assumed that having high EQs will enable CEOs to become top performers. Organizations often promote people to managerial positions based on their ability to work well with others. This perpetuates the wrong messages that numerous ads and cultural standards send us. To move above management, one needs to possess not only tenure, but also short-term financial gains and essential industry knowledge. This is how one can become a director, a senior executive or even a CEO. People who have both the capability and emotional intelligence to perform well in any given job are the ones who will ultimately succeed the most. Organizations should strive to foster this attitude and individuals must recognize the importance of becoming a well-rounded person to reach objectives. These facts are significant and should not be underestimated.
Increasing our emotional intelligence - that's what everyone wants to know how to do. My recommendation is to identify which parts of EQ are low for you - it can be social awareness, self-awareness or something else. But here are three key strategies that will work for the majority of people. The first trick to getting your emotional intelligence under control while still having a positive outcome is to ensure that your stress is intermittent and mild. Doing so will stimulate the brain to produce cells responsible for improved memory; therefore, mild, intermittent stress climbs the performance curve rather than compromising your immune system, leading to heart disease, depression and obesity. At UC Berkeley, research showed that when stress becomes either excessively severe or prolonged, it can lead to a deterioration in the parts of the brain associated with self-control. This was evidenced by an observation of a reversal down the backside of the curve. When it comes to stress, maintaining control is key. An excessive amount can cause a vicious cycle that results in diminished capacity to manage behavior including one’s own stress levels. To break this pattern, ensuring the stress remains intermittent and introducing intervention strategies are greatly beneficial. Stress can be managed by getting enough breaks - like taking a walk or exercising - and cultivating an attitude of gratitude. Surprisingly, a study conducted at UC Davis actually proved this to be true. Participants were told that whenever they experienced stress, they should take the time to reflect on something they felt thankful for.
Sleep is the second tool essential for improving EQ, but for many people it may not be possible to add more hours. The second silver bullet then is to clean up sleep hygiene habits. This goes beyond just trying to get more hours of sleep, but instead towards optimizing the quality of the time that you do get. When it comes to being awake, toxic proteins can accumulate in the neurons of the brain. This build-up is actually a common side effect, as it is simply part of normal activity for neurons when conscious. Did you know when you get the right amount of sleep, your neurons actually clean themselves up? This helps you think better and improves your self control; however, if you don't get enough sleep (like the recommended 8 hours), the accumulation of toxic proteins causes grogginess and can make one feel "cruddy". The key to non-toxic proteins in the brain is to ensure good sleep hygiene, as our bodies move through a variety of stages. Without quality sleep, these proteins will remain, so cleaning up one's sleep habits is essential. Using things that "help you sleep" is the number one way that sabotages your sleep quality. Taking anything, such as Benadryl, wine, Ambien, Nyquil or melatonin to help with falling asleep will impede your ability to go through the necessary sleep stages and rid of built-up toxins. In the morning, blue light from sunlight halts melatonin production and signals our bodies to stay awake; this is part of poor sleep hygiene. Additionally, we often expose ourselves to more blue light in the evening with devices like phones or computers – a further co-title of poor sleep hygiene. After noon, the light from the sun changes in wavelength and becomes increasingly red-orange. This helps our body's production of melatonin, which is a neurotransmitter involved in our sleep cycle, to begin. Thus it prepares us for rest and sleep. After dinner, instead of bathing in blue light from our massive Mac monitor or reading on the iPad, we should be careful not to confuse our brains. The lack of melatonin production caused by the blue light exposure will prevent good sleep quality and leave behind toxic proteins. One of the silver bullets for raising one's EQ is to look after their sleep hygiene. Try and avoid blue light, stay away from sleep aids, and maintain a consistent wake up time each morning - all this can help to strengthen self-control.
People often get frustrated with me for my third tip about emotional intelligence: controlling your caffeine intake; however, it really is part of a recurring pattern. Caffeine has an incredibly long half-life period, lasting up to six hours, which is why it's so important to watch how much you're consuming. When you're feeling exhausted in the evening because of the effects of taking seven Benadryl the night before, a triple espresso can give you a boost. In spite of its initial energy rush, however, half of its stimulating properties will remain metabolically active in your body for up to nine or ten hours afterwards. It is difficult to attain restful sleep due to the toxic proteins which are causing disruption of the brain's normal functioning. This lack of deep sleep quality further contributes to the accumulation of these dangerous substances, making it more challenging to maintain a healthy state. It is wise to avoid caffeine after noon as it can negatively impact the body. As such, knowledge of how one's body responds to this substance can prove beneficial. Consequently, my suggestion is that one should not consume any caffeinated beverages in the afternoon. If you pay attention, you'll see how your intake of caffeine impacts your sleep. Some people may be able to handle more than others, but understanding your own sensitivity to it is important. Using the three silver bullets of self-awareness, self-regulation and empathy that I discussed today, you can progress down the road to developing stronger emotional intelligence. I hope some of my advice was beneficial for achieving your ambitions in life. Thank you for always understanding your emotions.
See also: https://mygodsentangels.com/