We are living in troubled times, when days are filled with Chronicles of Corona and the nights seem to present a dark moon that unveils stories of depression, poor mental health and suicide.
When successful and famous people succumb to the pressures of the world and give up on this beautiful journey called life, it comes as a shock to many. People wonder why superstars who wrote history in their creative fields would need to end their lives – didn’t they have it all? Money, fame, success, health, followers, fans and a lot more that most people in the world crave for. But, they miss out on the most important aspect – intelligence.
Human Intelligence can be broadly categorised into four, and it also a factor that people do not consider when they jump to conclusions about mental health upon listening to stories of suicide and drugs all over the world. Most individuals who give up on this rollercoaster called life, lack one or more of the kinds of Intelligence. Instead of enjoying the roller coaster and realising they have a seatbelt on, they focus on feeling that the rollercoaster has broken down at the highest point on the rail-track and find themselves falling into the sea of people waiting below in a queue for their turn.
According to psychologists, the four broad kinds of intelligence are:
- Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
- Emotional Quotient (EQ)
- Social Quotient (SQ)
- Adversity Quotient (AQ)
1. Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
This is the measure of your comprehension ability – solving Mathematics, having the ability to memorise things and also recall subject matters.
2. Emotional Quotient (EQ)
This is the measure of your ability to maintain peace with others, staying punctual, being responsible, being honest, respecting boundaries, being humble, genuine and considerate.
3. Social Quotient (SQ)
This is the measure of your ability to build a network of friends and maintain it over a long period of time. Extroverts tend to have a higher social quotient.
People who have a higher EQ and SQ tend to go farther in life than those with a high IQ but low EQ and SQ. Most schools concentrate on improving IQ level while EQ and SQ are played down.
A human of high IQ can end up being employed by a human of high EQ and SQ even though he has an average IQ.
Your EQ represents your character and your SQ represents your charisma. Give in to habits that will improve these three quotients, especially your EQ and SQ.
EQ and SQ make an individual handle crises and a variety of circumstances in life better than the other.
Children all around the world must not be taught or raised to only have a high IQ. Gone are the days when individuals succeeded only on the basis of their IQ. Today, success is about a holistic approach to life. Think about it this way – in a Formula One car race on the track, you’re competing in a Ferrari with another driver in a Mercedes. The other car finishes two laps out of five in just 30 seconds while you’re still on the first lap, raising your gears slowly. You feel like a tortoise at first, but then you see the other car’s engine burn out and eventually dropping out of the race. You manage to drive the Ferrari till the last lap and win Pole.
It’s quite important to prioritise staying in the race for a longer time rather than quick but short term successes. Raise your child to have not just a high IQ which could give him/her a lot of short term successes, but also raise him/her with a high EQ and SQ to guarantee a long-term happiness, thus enabling a graceful growth with age.
In simple terms – be like Wine, don’t be like Vodka!
4. The Adversity Quotient (AQ)
Now this one is a new paradigm.
The measure of your ability to go through a rough patch in life and come out without losing your mind. AQ determines who will give up in the eventuality of a crisis and have the tendency to abandon their families.
In the current context of Coronavirus, performance pressure for artistes, unemployment, successful people going through bouts of Depression are the ones who may not have seen or been mentally prepared for Adversities.
Parents today must truly embrace the essence of life beyond academics and ensure that their children receive due exposure to areas that don’t involve their books – be it sports, any form of art or even basic manual work at home.
Enhance their EQ, SQ and AQ and allow them to become multifaceted human beings who will always be able to do things independently without parents. During COVID-19, teach them how to become better versions of themselves by adapting to crisis, learning from it and applying it’s lessons to every sphere of life. It could even be simple things like knowing how to cook, how to save money, how to wash dishes and clothes efficiently and perhaps even managing a home with an office together.
Enable your child to drive on rocky roads instead of laying high quality tar on every road in the world – it’s simpler!
