You've heard of IQ, your intellectual quotient. It measures your intellectual intelligence.
Emotional quotient (EQ) measures your emotional intelligence (EI). According to Emotional Intelligence author Daniel Goleman, emotional intelligence includes self-awareness and impulse control, persistence, zeal and self-motivation, empathy and social deftness.
EI can be summarized by asking, "Do you play well with others?" No? I suggest you learn. A key success *secret* that *they* don't tell you is that EI has a greater influence on your success than IQ any day. Share your toys. Play a team sport. Learn to play well with others.
MQ
MQ, your money quotient, measures your money intelligence (MI). It tells how much you know about money. How well-versed are you in money topics -- investments, retirement accounts, savings plans? How much do you know about money -- this *medium of exchange* that impacts and defines the quality of your life and relationships?
Money is the last not-to-be-discussed-in-polite-company subject in the United States. While we talk about sex, politics, and race relations in public, money has been exempted from public discourse. It is shrouded in terminology designed to confuse, intimidate, and stop us from asking.
Such strategically-imposed silence has allowed our personal and collective treasuries to be raped and plundered by self-involved white-collar guys/gals during the past decade. Money talk avoidance is partly responsible for the trillion-dollar bailout we the people are now responsible for paying back. Collective money silence has enabled a band of greedy people to rob us blind. This pisses me off.
So I'm cultivating a higher money mindset, and a big-girl, bad-ass money attitude. I'm so over the intimidation tactics designed to keep me under-informed. My money intelligence is on a steep incline!
When I work as a financial and business consultant, I ask the same basic question at least seven different ways. I practice it. It is amazing how different the answers received are based on how I phrase the question. I now use this technique to increase my MQ.
ASK the Question!
When in doubt, ASK a question. When you want clarity, ask a question. When you KNOW the answer, ask a question to see if the "expert" knows too. Ask as many money questions as you like. And get real answers. No more obfuscation! No more dazzle me with nonsense.
Push -- sometimes hard -- for answers. Here's how. "What does that mean?" is a great question. Ask your financial advisor to define the terms she uses. "What does return on investment mean? "How do you compute the yield on that?" "Please explain that concept in terms that I can relate to and more-readily understand" works well. Say, "Can you say more about that?"
Questions are amazing tools to gain information about topics and people. Put the onus on others to educate you in their areas of expertise. Be willing to say, "I don't know. Explain it to me." Get comfortable with this approach. You'll be amazed at how quickly you can learn 80% of what there is to know about any particular topic.
Still don't understand what derivatives are? Fine. Just don't invest in them or companies that invested in them. Duh.
Do you want to understand more about your money? Ready to talk about money?
I invite you to join us on the YES to Financial Fitness Facebook Group. It's a safe and supportive forum to talk about money, including how to attract it, keep it, grow and manage it effectively. http://groups.to/yestofinancialfitness/
From Judith Stephens, MBA, The Money Lady. http://YesToFinancialFitness.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Judith_Stephens
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