How often have we heard others talk about how ‘intelligent’

they consider someone to be? Intelligence is a description of

how good someone is at mentally doing something. Intelligence

involves thought. Intelligence includes the ability to reason,

plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend ideas and

language and to learn.

Do you consider yourself to be intelligent?

Schools and the education system would have us believe that we

are only intelligent if we are able to solve complex abstract

problems or remember facts and figures. I would agree that this

is a type of intelligence and this type of intelligence is

normally referred to as IQ or ‘intelligence quotient’ (a phrase

coined by an American psychologist named Lewis Terman).

A small proportion of the population has a high IQ and they

find the academic type of learning and activities in school

relatively easy. But the vast majority of people don’t. So

where does that leave everyone else?

Well, the good news is that IQ is not a measure of success.

Most people with a high IQ do not go on to be as successful as

their IQ score may lead us to believe. Most people with a high

IQ take reasonably well paid, but routine, employment. Most are

not happy with risk and rather limit their own success by

becoming ‘comfortable’ and fall far short of what their

potential suggests.

There is another type of intelligence that may be more

important to success in life and this has been publicised by

the best-selling book “Emotional Intelligence” (or EQ) by

Daniel Goleman (although the term was first used several years

earlier by two academics - Mayer and Salovey).

EQ has to do with recognizing, understanding, and choosing how

we think, feel, and act. It shapes our interactions with others

and our understanding of ourselves. It defines how and what we

learn; it allows us to set priorities; it determines the

majority of our daily actions.

EQ is the capacity to create positive outcomes in our

relationships with ourselves and others. These learnable skills

create joy, love, and success of all kinds.

Studying EQ it becomes clear that IQ has less to do with

success in life than EQ. The good news is that we all have EQ

and that it can be developed. We can develop our EQ to help us

build our relationships with others, to use our emotions

appropriately, to focus our efforts and to become more

successful in life.

EQ may be so important that it could be the best predictor of

who will succeed in any area of life.

Can we look beyond IQ and EQ?

When you look at the world, do you see only space and time,

mass and energy, logic and reason? Or do you also see

connectivity and design, purpose and meaning, faith and

mystery?

In his book “What’s your SQ?” Michael Guillen has developed the

idea of ‘spiritual intelligence’ or SQ. SQ considers your views

beyond the materialistic living of modern life. Without

spirituality it is possible to become very unhappy or

dissatisfied with life no matter how much material possessions

we accumulate.

Can you be successful if you are not truly happy? I would argue

not and that a balance of IQ, EQ and SQ are necessary for a

happy and successful life.

Are there any other forms of intelligence? Yes, there is

another important theory on multiple intelligences and you can

read about that in another article.

To be happy and successful in life focus on your EQ and SQ. If

you are fortunate enough to have some IQ too then all the

better – but don’t rely on your IQ alone.