Do you have a high "EQ"? (Emotional 'Intelligence') {{{EXCELLENT idioms/expressions in this article}}}

(I took this wonderful graphic above from inovizion.com)

It's one of the flaws (shortcomings/failures) of our educational system that IQ is valued highly, but EQ is not taken into consideration, to the extent it should be, in admissions decisions.

Here's an article that let's you determine whether you have a strong "emotional intelligence."

The article:

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/15-signs-that-you-are-emotionally-intelligent.html

Vocabulary to help you understand the article:

to be ruled by your thoughts - controlled or guided by your thoughts

to be the master of your thoughts - to understand what you are thinking and why you are thinking it

what makes people tick - what motivates people or what makes them do the things they do; a clock 'ticks' so to find out what makes a clock tick, you would look inside of it

a personal tic - a strange type of behavior nobody else has; tic does not equal tick

a clue - a hint, a sign, an indication; detectives look for 'clues' after a serious crime - the clues help them determine who committed the crime

to walk the walk - to walk the walk means to do what you say you are going to do; some people 'talk the talk' --> they just talk without doing anything, but some people 'walk the walk'

leading behind or leading from behind - this is like a military general who hides behind his soldiers and gives orders; to lead from the front means to act like Alexander the Great - you are in front of your soldiers, leading by example

to be as weak as your weakest link - a link is something that holds different parts together - if one link is weak while the other parts are strong, you are very weak there and that can destroy your entire system of defense; so there is an expression - you are as weak as your weakest link ---> meaning you should judge your strength by how weak your weakest link is.

a moot point - something that doesn't matter or is not important

at peace with the past - you don't let things you did in the past bother you any more

to drop your baggage - baggage, literally, means the stuff you pack and carry with you on a trip. If someone says you are carrying emotional baggage, this means you have not resolved or solved very serious problems you have had - you are carrying those problems with you

to be freaked out by something - to be shocked and bothered by something that happens

a world that doesn't come with a crystal ball - some people pretend to be able to predict the future by using a crystal ball; if you live without a crystal ball, you don't need guarantees about the future, you can act without knowing exactly what will happen

a scripted routine - a script is what actors read from or memorize, a routine is what you do every day the same way

you're tuned in - you tune a radio to a particular station; to be tuned in means to receive a certain type of signal - if you are tuned in to the present, you are aware what's going on right now.

a chorus of negative self-thought - they don't tell themselves many stories to make themselves feel even worse about what happened, they move on without becoming more upset or angry

political affiliation - the political party or group they belong to

ethical - you want to do the right things, not corrupt or dishonest things

a moral compass - literally a compass can be used to determine which direction is north; so a moral compass is an inner voice that tells a person what is right or wrong (like a conscience)

govern their behavior - control their behavior

to read people like a book - to really understand what people are feeling at any given time by looking at them

a gesture is usually a hand movement

at odds with - different from

a shortcoming - a flaw in your behavior or character; if a person is too shy, that might be a shortcoming, or if a person has a bad temper, that might be a shortcoming

detach themselves from end results - they do not allow themselves to be motivated by outside rewards or things outside of themselves; they are self-motivated