We’ve all heard it. He’d rather be alone. Or, she rarely accepts party invitations, preferring to read at home. All the above relates to our intrapersonal intelligence, or mental and emotional opportunities for personal growth.
If we link introversion to fixed personality traits, we are missing the mental and emotional tools that can lead us to a better place. Sadly, if we see time and activity engage alone as limiting rather than as dynamic mental and emotional strength opportunities we miss the wonder of intrapersonal IQ. How so?
Intrapersonal IQ is one of our multiple intelligences and it includes but it’s even more advantageous than its amazing guide into ethics or common sense, or simply being kind to ourselves!
It turns out that what we thought we knew about introverts fails to include intrapersonal intelligence strengths. Just as in every intelligence, human gene pools come hardwired with a unique mix of its inner and ethical equipment, too often ignored as we reach for optimal goals. Some refer to it as common sense.
Whatever we call it, intrapersonal intelligence and the skills it includes can be taught, practiced daily, actively engaged in most choices we make, and tracked as we learn, grow, and lead. It can also spark the mind-bending climate most learners crave. So why do so few leadership circles find and follow intrapersonal benefits such as reflection, meditation, and self awareness?
Consider our loneliness quotient and we will begin to spot our intrapersonal IQ strengths and opportunities.
Also described as intuitive intelligence, this inner ability vibrates alongside Howard Gardner‘s 7 other distinctive intelligences that fuel your brain with inner strength. It stands strong and tall, much like we imagine a sentient stands, within the Mita renewal model, for secondary and university learning as well as business leadership.
Daniel Goleman names common sense as an essential part of one’s emotional intelligence. Others say it’s intuition, and Einstein claimed it won him the Nobel Prize. New research shows it includes hunches, where soldiers in battle make fast judgment calls, or introspection that’s found in people who grasp a clearer concept all at once. Have you seen it valued where you recreate or work? If so, ethics and generosity and care for others will fly vibrant winds in the organization’s upper air.
My question is: What does intrapersonal intelligence look like in our daily mind-bending climates, and what wonder can it reap on an ordinary day for each of us?
We’ve all seen that peacemaker’s tone communicated by an intrapersonal guru, and we’ve watch it nosedive in a bully or cynic. It packs a punch with faith at times, and builds a better world when ethics becomes its fuel. Yet its absence torments victims of regret, blame or cynicism, where brains default to ruts. It shows up far less in toxic workplaces, and fades in people easily overwhelmed.
Perhaps we feel intrapersonal IQ benefits most alive when we’re content to delight in a dinner alone at times, or when we unleash talents to celebrate our call. We’ll likely crave its magic moments most whenever we feel a bit lonely or find ourselves feeling stuck in sad spots while people around us move forward with confidence and savvy we seem to lack.
Luckily, intrapersonal intelligence can be taught collaboratively and interactively, though it’s not lectured well. Thanks to the regeneration of dendrite brain cells, it’s acquired best by those at any age, station, or economic position, who remain open to rewire their brains for more wonder, ethical adventures and delight of growing personal strengths with grit to give back with service. How so?
- Think before you speak and snip your amygdala so that words can build better friendship and goodwill, and you’ve upped your own and other’s brainpower for common sense.
- Log your challenges for a day on the left side of a T-Chart, and then list possible solutions you plan to try on the chart’s right side. As you tackle what you propose in the right column, personal intuition begins to grow. Start by trying one solution, and you brain rewires for ongoing change!
- Improve personal tone at work, so that others see you speak calmly and learn humbly from those who differ, and you’ve already expanded inner smarts along new neuron pathways.
- Create space in your day to play, do hobbies, laugh, care, question from within your spiritual self, and watch unique intelligences bloom into vibrant colors you most enjoy.
- Leapfrog over ruts in favor of taking risks for a finer place, and intrapersonal intelligence jumps to your aid with unexpected dividends, that those caught in ruts with merely crave.
Thanks to intrapersonally intelligent leaders who inspire the charge for renewal and who engage deep intuitive intelligence to stir renewal in ways that rejuvenate broken systems today. Where’s your confidence?
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Created by Dr. Ellen Weber, Brain Based Tasks for Growth Mindset