My last post, 'How Successful People Stay Calm,' really struck a nerve. The trick is that managing your emotions is as much about what you won't do as it is about what you will do.

TalentSmart has tested more than a million people and found that the upper echelons of top performance are filled with people who are high in emotional intelligence (90 percent of top performers, to be exact). So, I went back to the data to uncover the kinds of things that emotionally intelligent people are careful to avoid to keep themselves calm, content, and in control. They consciously avoid these behaviors because they are tempting and easy to fall into if one isn't careful.

While the list that follows isn't exhaustive, it presents nine key things that you can avoid to increase your emotional intelligence and performance.

1. They won't let anyone limit their joy.

When your sense of pleasure and satisfaction derive from comparing yourself with others, you are no longer master of your own happiness. When emotionally intelligent people feel good about something they've done, they won't let anyone's opinions or accomplishments take that away from them.

While it's impossible to turn off your reactions to what others think of you, you don't have to compare yourself with others, and you can always take people's opinions with a grain of salt. That way, no matter what other people are thinking or doing, your self-worth comes from within. Regardless of what people think of you at any particular moment, one thing is certain--you're never as good or bad as they say you are.

2. They won't forget.

Emotionally intelligent people are quick to forgive, but that doesn't mean that they forget. Forgiveness requires letting go of what's happened so that you can move on. It doesn't mean you'll give a wrongdoer another chance. Emotionally intelligent people are unwilling to be bogged down unnecessarily by others' mistakes, so they let them go quickly and are assertive in protecting themselves from future harm.

3. They won't die in the fight.

Emotionally intelligent people know how important it is to live to fight another day. In conflict, unchecked emotion makes you dig your heels in and fight the kind of battle that can leave you severely damaged. When you read and respond to your emotions, you're able to choose your battles wisely so that you stand your ground only when the time is right.

4. They won't prioritize perfection.

Emotionally intelligent people won't set perfection as their target because they know it doesn't exist. Human beings, by our very nature, are fallible. When perfection is your goal, you're always left with a nagging sense of failure, and you end up spending your time lamenting what you have failed to accomplish and what you should have done differently instead of enjoying what you have been able to achieve.

5. They won't live in the past.

Failure can erode your self-confidence and make it hard to believe you'll achieve a better outcome in the future. Most of the time, failure results from taking risks and trying to achieve something that isn't easy. Emotionally intelligent people know that success lies in their ability to excel in the face of failure, and they can't do this when they're living in the past. Anything worth achieving is going to require you to take some risks, and you can't allow failure to stop you from believing in your ability to succeed. When you live in the past, that is exactly what happens, and your past becomes your present, preventing you from moving forward.

6. They won't dwell on problems.

Where you focus your attention determines your emotional state. When you fixate on the problems that you face, you create and prolong negative emotions and stress, which hinders performance. When you focus on actions to better yourself and your circumstances, you create a sense of personal efficacy that produces positive emotions and improves performance. Emotionally intelligent people won't dwell on problems because they know they're most effective when they focus on solutions.

7. They won't hang around negative people.

Complainers are bad news because they wallow in their problems and fail to focus on solutions. They want people to join their pity party so that they can feel better about themselves. People often feel pressure to listen to complainers because they don't want to be seen as callous or rude, but there's a fine line between lending a sympathetic ear and getting sucked into a negative emotional spiral. You can avoid getting drawn in only by setting limits and distancing yourself when necessary. Think of it this way: if a person is smoking, do you sit there all afternoon inhaling the second-hand smoke? More likely, you'll distance yourself, and you should do the same with complainers. A great way to set limits is to ask complainers how they intend to fix a problem. They will then either quiet down or redirect the conversation in a productive direction.

8. They won't hold grudges.

The negative emotions that come with holding onto a grudge are actually a stress response. Just thinking about an unpleasant event sends your body into fight-or-flight mode. When a threat is imminent, this reaction is essential to your survival, but when a threat is ancient history, holding onto that stress wreaks havoc on your body and can have devastating health consequences over time. In fact, researchers at Emory University have shown that holding onto stress contributes to high blood pressure and heart disease. Holding onto a grudge means you're holding onto stress, and emotionally intelligent people know to avoid this at all costs. Learning to let go of a grudge not only will make you feel better now but can also improve your health.

9. They won't say yes unless they really want to.