Anger Management
People are angry. Have you noticed? Over the last two weeks we have seen several public displays of anger or frustration. Much has been made of these incidents in the media; especially asking the question, "What has gone so wrong with our society that we see this unusual behavior?" For the last few years I have noticed that people have much less tolerance of each other and are generally less civil to each other. I've developed a course on civility in response to this issue.
I think several things cause this behavior:
1. We are all too busy and always running late. Any delay, from a long line at Dunkin Donuts, to a detour on the way to work make us worried that our schedule will fall apart. This includes the constant need to be technologically connected to our schedule.
2. We don't get enough sleep. Sleep deprivation robs our brain of the ability to manage our emotions.
3. As a society we have lost our manners. We no longer feel the need to be nice to each other; perhaps part of the "entitlement mentality" that so many people tell me about.
4. We no longer give people a positive "Benefit-of-the-doubt." We forget about long-held relationships and lash out without bothering to ask for the other side of the story. There are always two sides to every story.
So, what can we do "take an anger management class" Maybe, but what they would teach you would be to:
- Get more sleep.
- Plan one or two fewer things in your day.
- Make a pact with yourself to be the most polite person in the room.
- Give your family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers the benefit-of-the-doubt before taking any action.
Let's try to keep our anger in check and our names out of the paper!
Have a great day!
Tracy
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Tracy Knofla
High Impact Training
PS. Feel free to share this with your friends and colleagues