When Impulsiveness Destroys Us

What are the benefits of being impulsive? It seems like there aren’t very many, on the contrary. Impulsivity harms us and the people around us. And worst of all, we often act unconsciously and later regret what we said or did, but we cannot turn back time.

That is why it is so important to learn to control our impulses and to think a little more.

When someone hardly says anything to you and you immediately react badly and respond to it; when someone asks you something and you say the first thing that comes into your head; if you are the first to start arguing; if when something goes wrong you ditch it or start screaming and romping around like a child, then you may have a problem with impulsiveness.

Don’t feel bad now, because everything in life has a solution (except death, as the saying goes). First, it’s good to understand that sometimes impulsiveness isn’t all that bad. It makes us less shy and introverted, makes us listen, and helps achieve what we want. Even so, a problem arises when impulsiveness becomes the norm.

There are different types of impulsive and compulsive (compulsive) people. The latter means those who, for example, shop without need and pile clothes and objects in their homes. In this article, we are not dealing with this, but with a different form of reacting to emotions and channeling them. And that is when we react with anger or anger, when our nerves are on the edge or when we complain, when something is not going the way we want it to, or when we cannot solve a problem.

We can convey many things with the way we express ourselves. And we don’t always say the good with our words and actions. We may not have a bad intention of bothering or harming the other, but in the end we do.

If you are one of those who throws a stone at the slightest stimulus, if you answer before you have thoroughly analyzed the situation, if your first reaction is to get upset or argue, if you feel dazed with anger, when if you are very pissed off if you only think of being hurtful, retaliatory, or screaming, then be careful because the impulsiveness can mess with you.

You shouldn’t make excuses like, “I’m stressed.” – “I did it without thinking.” – “I have got many problems.” – “The economic crisis is bothering me.” – “I am naturally impulsive.” – “I have my days.” – Confront the situation and accept that you have a problem with impulsivity. This is the first step.

Then comes the moment of action, not reaction. This means that it is better to wait and see when your first reflex tells you to immediately start a counterattack in the event of a negative stimulus. Maybe it will help you now to count to ten (or to twenty, thirty, one hundred …) and take a deep breath. This will help you avoid answering directly or shouting when the other person has stopped speaking.

Sometimes it just doesn’t mean that you can’t continue the conversation if you let two seconds pass, or that you haven’t understood something, but that you need time to process the information. Maybe you trust your mind to be faster than light, but that’s not always a good thing.

Try to put things right. If you take the time to analyze each other’s words and your own, you can get better results. If you can make sure that the impulse is not the first thing that comes out of your mouth or body, then you decide completely differently. If you think before you speak and weigh your words, then you can hit the right port.

Finally, I leave you with a nice thought:

“Always think first what you are doing before you act. Don’t let impulsiveness dominate you or your path being full of darkness. “