Emotional Intelligence (How To Achieve Personal Growth With Stoicism)
What is Stoicism, and how can it change your life?
A long time ago, a merchant named Zeno had suffered a shipwreck on his voyage between Phoenicia and Piraeus. He lost pretty much everything. He was devastated. He then made his way to Athens, where he got introduced to the philosophy of an Athenian philosopher named Crates. He then developed the thinking of a real Stoic.
“Now that I’ve suffered shipwreck, I’m on a good journey.”
-Zeno of Citium.
He founded the Stoic school of philosophy in Athens, where he and his disciples gathered for discussions. He taught them about Stoicism and how important it is.
What is Stoicism?
Simply put, Stoicism is enduring pain without showing your emotions.
It emphasizes the importance of self-control and the acceptance of fate. Stoicism also teaches us to focus on things we can control and not things we can’t control. Stoics believe that the goal of life is eudaimonia, the condition of human flourishing.
“All things are parts of one single system, which is called nature; the individual life is good when it is in harmony with nature.”
-Zeno of Citium.
Emotional intelligence
An essential part of personal growth is the ability to control our emotions.
Stoicism will help you in becoming emotionally intelligent. So when you’re going through a hard time, instead of being overwhelmed by emotions, you’ll be able to control your reactions to them.
With Stoicism, your emotions will never get the better of you. That is important because you can’t undo the things you’ve done. We often may do bad things when angry, but Stoicism teaches us not to act on our feelings.
“Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day.”
-Markus Zusak.
Now, a lot of people misunderstand this. They think you should have no feelings at all. But that’s not true. Stoicism is not about having no negative feelings. It is about controlling them and using them to your advantage. It helps us with our mental and physical health.
But emotional intelligence isn’t only about social emotions. There is more to it that will help you become better.
Why Stoicism matters?
Stoicism is a path to greater inner peace and happiness. Practising it can help you in your self-improvement journey. You will develop emotional intelligence. Here are some of the many benefits.
Discipline
Stoicism applies great value to discipline. Without discipline, you’re destined to float through life without any control. And the only thing you really can control is your mind. It may be hard at the start, but this little thing makes a huge difference.
“We should discipline ourselves in small things, and from these progress to things of greater value”
-Marcus Aurelius.
If you can make your bed as soon as you wake up, you’re already making progress. It will translate to bigger things in life. And a lot of people that don’t get great results, blame it on lack of motivation. You can’t do things only when you’re motivated. You must do them daily to make a difference. That’s discipline. When you do it, even if you don’t want to.
Waste less time
By caring about your time, you will also become more productive. If you can reduce the time spent on your phone, you have more time to work on yourself.
“It’s not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.”
-Seneca
Working more will also make you feel happier. Humans are designed to work. If you work towards your goals and look at your progress, you’ll develop a growth mindset.
You’ll also get rid of unnecessary distractions. By removing them, we’ll be calm in any situation.
Remembering what you can control
Don’t waste your time and energy worrying about the things you can’t control. As I said earlier, you can only control your mind. When working towards your goals, there will always be distractions. Block them out and only think about the things you can control. It will help you, regardless of the situation you’re in, find the best possible move.
“You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
-Marcus Aurelius
Nowadays, people consider Stoicism toxic. But they are wrong. Stoicism develops great emotional intelligence. It is something you need in your life to achieve your goals. You’ll treat others and yourself better and become a better person.
Try out being a Stoic. It will take time to get used to it, but it will boost your personal growth. And if you don’t know how to start your self-improvement journey, check out my article on Self-improvement. Good luck!
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