SIGNS YOU SHOULDN'T BE AN ENTREPRENEUR (5)

Okay, we're concluding the series with one more sign you shouldn't be an entrepreneur:

5) YOU SCORE LOW IN EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

If one thing is certain about humans, it is that we are emotional beings. We are far from the rational creatures that we would like to be. Emotions dictate the vast majority of our actions in life, and only a small percentage of our actions are driven by rationality.

For this reason, it is imperative that you are able to understand and leverage emotions, yours and those you are doing business with. This is what emotional intelligence is all about.

Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to identify, understand, use and manage our emotions and other people's emotions in positive ways in order to communicate effectively, empathize with others, influence decisions and overcome challenges.

It has been proven again and again that emotional intelligence is the highest predictor of success in life, so investing the time to develop yours is one of the best investments you can make.

There is no easy way on how to achieve this, but it is something that you can train and gradually build. In order to do so, read some good books and make sure to socialize more. One of the biggest aspects of emotional intelligence is managing fear.

Fear is one of our most primal emotions and has evolved in humans in order to keep us safe from danger. Fear makes us to be hesitant and sometimes withdraw from the place of action. For our ancestors, fear was a warning sign that kept them safe from all kinds of threats, from enemy tribes to hungry sabertooths. Their environment was dangerous and thus being cautious was indeed a helpful trait.

The problem is that we humans have not changed much in comparison to our ancestors, but our environment has. The environment we live nowadays is relatively safe in the majority of the world. So more often than not, the fear we feel is a "false alarm" that deters us from taking action.

Taking the leap to entrepreneurship requires that you have control over your emotions, and especially over fear. Fear of failure, fear of success (yes, that is a thing), fear of what other people might say, fear of losing money, fear of making mistakes.

Your ability to manage fear will dictate the level of success you can attain as an entrepreneur. If your emotional intelligence levels are low, chances are that your are fighting an uphill battle, not only in business, but in life in general. Make sure to take the necessary steps to develop it and your chances of success will rise substantially.