Being a successful person does not entail having only a successful career, or having lots of money, or simply possessing a high intellectual/academic intelligence (IQ). In fact, as data from more developed countries shows, only 20% of a person's success in life is attributed to IQ, leaving 80% to other factors -- especially to his/her emotional intelligence.

Emotional health refers to:

"A person's feeling about him/herself, his/her feelings and behavior with others, her/his capacity to meet the demands of everyday life"

In his book, "Emotional Intelligence (EQ)", Daniel Goleman [Goleman, 1997] asserts that emotional intelligence may be even more powerful than intellectual intelligence in determining a person's success in life. He identifies 5 main components of emotional health. These are:

• Self-awareness : The ability to be able to reflect on one's own life and self with a critical, yet understanding, eye and the awareness of one's strengths/weaknesses, emotions, needs, etc.
• Management of feelings/emotions : The ability to monitor and control one's emotions. Control, however, does not mean stopping emotions, but having enough control over them to be able to express them in variety of ways -- and then, consciously and responsibly, deciding how to best express them in a given situation.
• Motivation : The driving force, energy, and hope that comes from having a purpose, goal, and interest in one's life.
• Interpersonal skills : The ability to relate to other people and to form healthy, fulfilling, and meaningful relationships in one's life.
• Empathy : The ability to understand other people's feelings and needs and to be able to look at things from their point of view.

Childhood is a critical time for the development of personality, and helping children learn important life skills -- such as those of self-reflection, interpersonal communication, anger management, and conflict resolution -- are an important part of this process. The early enhancement of emotional health also significantly impacts the way a child deals with difficult or stressful situations that include abuse, trauma, and other childhood anxieties. A person's emotional health can also be enhanced by providing appropriate and timely emotional support, which significantly reduced the effects of various stressors on the child's personality.