The current and future landscape is often described by the acronym VUCA: Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. The traditional career path, characterised by linear growth and predictable steps, is dissolving.

In this environment, emotional strength acts as a sophisticated internal gyroscope, stabilising us when external conditions spin out of control. It’s the jugaad for the soul—the innate resourcefulness to handle whatever life throws at you. .

While AI is rapidly conquering tasks based on Intelligence Quotient (IQ)—calculation, logic, and information processing—it remains fundamentally inept at genuine human emotional experience. This creates the most significant competitive advantage for humans. Our ability to empathise, collaborate, and show sustained grit is what the market of tomorrow will value most.

The digital age brings with it an epidemic of burnout and mental exhaustion. The constant connectivity, the comparison culture of social media, and the always-on work cycle create a profound tax on our psychological well-being. Investing in emotional literacy early on is a necessary counter-measure, a preventative health check for the mind.

For too long, we’ve operated with a compartmentalised view of development: academics here, and ‘soft skills’ somewhere else. However, decades of brain science now decisively prove that social, emotional, and cognitive development are deeply intertwined. A stressed, anxious child cannot absorb information optimally; their emotional state directly hijacks their capacity to learn.

A landmark 40-year longitudinal study from Dunedin, New Zealand, tracked over 1,000 children from birth into adulthood. The striking finding was that emotional intelligence (specifically, cognitive control—the ability to manage emotions and impulses) was the No. 1 predictor of future financial and life success. It surpassed academic performance (IQ) and even parental wealth and education levels.

If emotional strength is the critical skill for the future, its foundation is poured during the first five years of life. This period is not merely a prelude to school; it is the most rapid phase of brain development, a time when the neural architecture for stress regulation, social connection, and learning is being permanently wired.

To treat Emotional Intelligence (EQ) as a skill learned later in life is like waiting until a building is half-finished to install the foundation—it’s costly, difficult, and compromises the structure’s eventual height and stability. The future demands individuals with robust internal systems, and those systems are built in childhood.

When a child learns to manage their emotions—to identify, label, and regulate their feelings—they are not just becoming a nicer person; they are becoming a more resilient, less stressed, and more empowered learner, ready to thrive and succeed. This process, often framed as Social-Emotional Learning (SEL), is what establishes the protective factors that shield young minds from future risky behaviours and mental health challenges. These are the life skills—motivation, communication, self-discipline—that genuinely translate into positive life outcomes.

We, as educators, must evolve our role. We are no longer mere deliverers of information; we are guides, relationship builders, and well-being advocates. In an age where knowledge is instantly accessible, students need educators who teach them how to learn and how to thrive. Our goal must be to facilitate learning through respect-based relationships, prioritising student well-being alongside academic success.

In the context of India, professional mental health support is often scarce. This resource gap is precisely why our focus must shift to Stage 1: Wellness & Prevention, as outlined in the mental health spectrum. If professional help is scarce, the solution is to empower the entire school community—teachers, parents, and children—with the tools for emotional strength and resilience. A robust early childhood mental and emotional health curriculum acts as a primary prevention strategy. It equips children with the basic literacy to navigate their internal world, reducing the load on crisis care down the line.

• Validating Feelings: Acknowledging a child's emotion ("Acha, I see you are angry that your toy broke") before addressing the behaviour. 


• Modelling: Adults demonstrating healthy emotional regulation by naming their own feelings calmly ("I am feeling a bit frustrated right now, so I'm going to take a deep breath"). 


• Teaching Emotional Vocabulary: Giving children the Hindi or regional language words, along with English, to label their internal states (happy, sad, frustrated, disappointed, or gussa, dukhi, pareshaan). 

Published in EdClan magazine Jan 2026