Emotional intelligence can greatly impact a person's career and quality of life.

In 1995, psychologist and science reporter Daniel Goleman published a book stating that emotional intelligence, also known as Emotional Quotient (EQ), is a more precise predictor of an individual's career than their Intelligence Quotient (IQ).

The book, titled "Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ," said that a high EQ is steadily becoming a requirement in the hiring or promotion of organizational leaders.

Emotional intelligence is the capacity to recognize and understand the emotional state of yourself and others, and your ability to adapt and manage your behavior to achieve positive results.

How Emotional Intelligence Can Help Your Career

Research conducted in the past decades now sees emotional intelligence as the important factor that separates one's excellent performance from the others. In TalentSmart's tests, it was found that emotional intelligence is the strongest predictor of performance out of 33 other important workplace skills.

90 percent of top performers at work have high emotional intelligence, while 20 percent of bottom employees have high degrees of emotional intelligence. Basically, a person can be a top performer without emotional intelligence, but the possibility of such an achievement is considerably lower. People with high emotional intelligence also have higher salaries than those who don't have low emotional intelligence.

Emotional Intelligence is a Life Saver

The benefits of emotional intelligence don't stop there. A number of research studies stated the connection of emotional intelligence to diseases. Stress, depression and anxiety all contribute to breaking down a person's immune system. This makes an individual more prone to sickness, from common colds to something as serious and life-threatening as cancer.

Moreover, emotional intelligence skills can be trained to hasten the body's recovery from diseases. "Teaching emotional intelligence skills to people with life-threatening illnesses has been shown to reduce the rate of recurrence, shrink recovery times, and lower death rates."

A person with high emotional intelligence responds well to challenging situations. Given that emotional intelligence can strongly influence an individual's health, people who can cope amazingly while facing distress can keep their immune system strong against diseases.

Since emotional intelligence "involves higher functions such as recognition, reason and decision-making," it is a skill that can be taught, learned and developed by people.

For those looking for the perfect career, here are some jobs that could match your skill set.