In the following exercise, you will be introduced to different situations. Without giving much thought to what your actions will be, try to fill the first column headed “Instant”.
The actions you mention under the column “Instant” should be the one that you will do when immediately faced with the situation. Fill this entire column first. Then take your time to think what the best action would have been, and write that under the column “Calm”.
| S.No. | Scenario | Instant | Calm |
| 1 | Your car breaks down in the middle of the road. | ||
| 2 | You hear your ex has started dating someone. | ||
| 3 | You get rejected in an interview due to lack of experience. | ||
| 4 | You recover from malaria, only to catch chicken pox. | ||
| 5 | Your performance is questioned due to the mistakes of your manager. | ||
| 6 | You were on an important call and the battery dies on you. | ||
| 7 | You get turned down by the person you asked out on a date. | ||
| 8 | You spend hours cooking a dish for a dinner party and it burns. |
Download Exercise Winning Behavior.
Compare both the actions and see how many actions from the “Instant” column match with the ones mentioned under “Calm”. The more the similarities, the more the indication of you being a level-headed person who has his emotions in check.
Impulsive behavior is a very natural way to react when the chips are down. However, impulsive behavior ranges from showing dissatisfaction to expressing anger to violent behavior. It is always better to take a deep breath and address the solution of the problem, as opposed to addressing the problem by cursing and swearing and venting.
