Most of us grew up with a rather limited view of intelligence that was defined by IQ tests and academic work. At one point we may also have learned about emotional intelligence.
Development Theory has now shown you need 7 core intelligences if you want to express your greatest potential. If any of them is weak it will limit you and if it’s extremely weak you may feel almost disabled.
It seems pretty important to be aware of these, especially as few people have developed all of them enough to be able to reach their full potential. It may help you to understand what you need to work on next.
- Cognitive intelligence
This is not the limited IQ type of intelligence. It’s based on your ability to take the perspectives of others. As you grow your ability to see bigger and bigger perspectives, you develop as a human being. You rise up through a series of defined levels of development. - Somatic intelligence
This is your ability to use your physical body, and also your energy body. Some people are very tuned into their energy body, for example if they’re very intuitive, whereas others are barely aware of it at all. You don’t need to be a world class athlete, but you do need a good level of physical competence if you want to develop your greatest potential. - Emotional intelligence
This is the ability to sense and describe your own feelings accurately and those of other people. Many people live in denial of their own feelings. For example they will say they’re feeling fine, when they’ve just been given a very serious diagnosis. Or they may be unaware of how others feel around them. Essentially this is about growing your honesty with yourself about how you really feel, whether it’s positive or negative. - Spiritual intelligence
This is your ability to experience your spiritual connection and also to explore and reflect on the big questions of life. The first part is experiential. It’s not just being able to talk about spirituality, but to experience it directly and personally. This can be quite new for some people, whether religious or not. - Intrapersonal intelligence
Your ability to reflect internally and read your inner states accurately links with your spiritual intelligence. It’s being able to look inside, which helps you become clearer, more responsible and more aligned with your purpose. - Moral intelligence
I believe most of us could benefit greatly from working more on our ability to make wise decisions in different situations. It’s easy to be lazy about this and simply not make decisions at all, resulting in procrastination. Moral intelligence makes us more proactive and is an essential skill for any leader. - Will power
This speaks for itself. It’s simply the ability to set a goal and achieve it.
Without going into any detail you should be able to look at this list and instantly see where you’re strong and where you’re weak.
If you want to know more about how to strengthen any of them feel free to email me.
Related blog posts:
Open Your Heart – The Fourth Key to Expanding Your Personal and Professional Impact
The Third Key to Expanding Your Personal and Professional Impact
