Emotional Intelligence or emotional intelligence skills are considered very important skills because they are skills that help us to assess our own and others’ emotional control. If anyone has the ability to control their emotions, it will help both work and personal life to be balanced.
If we talk about sports, what sports can be compared to the way of life or path to success of working people?
Golf is a good example that can be used to compare the path to success of working people very well. Because in golf, it is a competition that lasts for quite a long time (similar to the life cycle of working people: graduating, working, having a family, and retiring, etc.)
In this type of sport, there are many rules. Therefore, the participants must strictly follow the rules (like working people, right? Who must work under the rules, regulations, company policies, etc.) But not only that, the competitors will also have to face many obstacles in this game, such as having to hit across water, hitting across sand puddles, the weather in the field is sometimes unpredictable, or the environment in the competition field is too difficult to control (similar to our working lives, having to overcome many obstacles before finding success).
“Because life is a competition”
To give you a clearer picture and understanding, golf is played over several days before a winner is determined.
Especially in world-class tournaments or competitions such as the Masters golf tournament, this event lasts for a total of 7 days, with the first 3 days being practice rounds and the last 4 days being the actual competition rounds.
The Masters is a world-class tournament that features many great golfers who qualify based on a number of special criteria. For example, they must have won the Masters, the last five US Open titles, the last five Open Championship titles, the last five PGA Championship titles, the last three Players Championship titles, and many more. Every competitor is a champion or is ranked at the top of the world rankings.
But the champion or winner may not be the best, or the one with the most titles, or the one with the highest world ranking.
Because the winners must have other important elements besides their abilities and skills that they must have at a certain level to compete. They must also have Emotional Intelligence as an important component.
Because golf is a high-pressure, high-stress sport. Imagine playing among many talented players and watching millions of viewers both on the course and via live broadcasts.
This makes it very easy for mistakes to happen. Many great golfers can become sluggish or lose their swing if they are unable to control and manage their emotions.
Many golf pros often say in the same direction that golf is a sport that competes with ourselves, competes with our own emotions, feelings, skills or good techniques. But if we don’t have the ability to control our emotions well, the game is over or we leave the game immediately.
Because emotional intelligence has a direct impact on decision making.
And from many studies abroad, it was found that emotional intelligence is a very important skill for golf and has a direct effect on the performance and success of golf athletes. It was found that athletes who are continuously successful or athletes who have outstanding performances on a world-class level all have outstanding skills in emotional intelligence.
For example, Tiger Woods, a former world-class golfer who achieved success at a young age, but later faced many hardships after his initial success in life.
In 2009, he faced a life crisis, whether it was the revelation of his infidelity with his wife, which led to a divorce later, followed by the loss of a huge income because many sponsors withdrew their support.
Tiger Woods’ performance after that was not as good as before. In 2014, he had to face another crisis. He suffered chronic injuries to both his back and hips, which prevented him from competing in many events. As a result, his world ranking dropped to 1,199.
Tiger Woods’ tragedy did not end there. In 2017, Tiger Woods made headlines when he was arrested for driving under the influence, but he was eventually spared jail time because he was able to prove that the intoxication was a side effect of medication for his injuries, and not the result of drinking alcohol.
Then in 2018, it was Tiger Woods’ year of restart. After the injury had disappeared, he began to return to claim greatness, almost winning a major championship such as the PGA Championship. And most recently, in 2019, at the age of 43, he made a great comeback by winning The Masters, which was his 15th major championship (now we have to wait and see when he will break Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 championships).
You really have to admire Tiger Woods’ heart for his determination and determination to turn around a bad situation in his life.
“If you encounter many bad things, there is a high chance of giving up.”
If it were an ordinary person who had to face the same failure as Tiger Woods, they would have given up long ago. But from the phenomenon of Tiger Woods coming back to be a champion again, it has caused people to study why Tiger Woods was able to come back. It was found that it was because of the skill of emotional intelligence. This is what made Tiger Woods come back.
With Tiger Woods’ ability in this sport to begin with, as well as his Growth Mindset and Emotional Intelligence, he does not stop or give up easily against any obstacles that come his way. And with his ability in emotional intelligence, he can separate personal problems from his competition. He is also able to manage his emotions well with every game and every situation he has to face in competition, resulting in him being able to comeback with great results again this year.
“Even though the world is not beautiful, there are always good choices for us.”
From the example of someone who was successful, then failed and managed to bring themselves back to success again, like Tiger Woods, we are seeing that the world today may not be as beautiful as we think.
But it depends on ourselves, which we can choose. Choose to deal with the problems that come into our lives by learning, practicing, and building skills in Emotional Intelligence ( if possible, add Growth Mindset as well, it would be great).
Having the skills and ability to recognize and control your own emotions, including recognizing and understanding the emotions of others, knowing how our emotions are in this situation, so that we can control or decide or choose the appropriate behavioral response to the situation we are facing, will allow us to cope with any difficult situation with ease. And importantly, having emotional intelligence skills has been proven to have a positive effect on our career advancement and success.
At this point, you probably understand more about how important emotional intelligence is.
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