- Read a book
- Breathe deeply
- Talk with a friend
- Transferring the situation from negative to positive by self talk
- HALT! Find out if you are hungry, lonely, tired or some emotion other than anger
- Take a long bubble bath
- Have a sexual encounter to release endorphins
- Take a walk in the park
- Talk about the issue at hand
- Have a good cry
- Write down the pros and cons about how to deal with the situation
- Walk away
- Go to a 24 hour establishment and sit in the parking lot and review the situation
- Remove yourself from the situation
- Go shopping
- Go out to dinner with friends
- Paint your nails
- Work on a project in your garage
- Spend time with someone that is dear to you
- Do something special for someone else and keep it to yourself
- Use paint to create how you feel on paper
- Clean your home
- Mow your lawn
- Write a story about the situation
- Listen to your favorite song
- Take a long drive through a very scenic area
- Go sit by a body of water and calm down
- Talk about what you are angry about
- Identify other emotions behind your anger
- Ask yourself what is the real reason you are angry
- Go to the spa
- Seek professional help
- Learn to laugh
- Watch a comedy
- Dance
- Go out and have fun
- evaluate all of your current relationships
- evaluate how people in your life addressed anger when you were a child
- Find out what are appropriate and inappropriate ways to express anger
- Play your favorite sport
- Forgive the person you are angry with
- Practice self talk to calm down
- Replay in your head the positive way to deal with the situation in which you are angry
- Prepare one of your favorite meals
- Talk on the phone with someone to help you calm down
- Compose a story regarding the situation and develop two endings one that discusses what happens if you follow thru with your anger and one that explains what happens when you express your anger appropriately
- Find a place that is special to only you and go there to think
- Smile, the more you smile, the more difficult it is to stay angry
- Have a massage in your home
- Scream as loud as you can, then regroup
- Prayer
- Live your dreams
- Count to ten
- Anger is a secondary emotions—always find out what is driving your anger
- Be always aware of your emotional state
- Check your perception of the situation
- Angry thinking creates anger-transform your thoughts
- Anger is a normal emotion-embrace it
- Never follow another driver in anger
- Never listen to your angry self talk
- Be aware of your emotional state
- Take breaks
- Avoid fatigue
- Take responsibility for your own actions
- Avoid the tendency to be always right
- Go for a long drive
- Go for a long walk
- Reduce stress
- Lower your expectations
- Mediate
- Walk away— repeated because this very important but hard to do.
- Avoid excessive use of alcohol
- Talk out your problems
- Be prepared for life’s surprises
- Learn to laugh at yourself
- Go to anger management classes
- Improve your time management
- Avoid people that tend to increase your irritability
- Learn to communicate your needs
- Avoid passive aggressive behavior
- Improve money management
- You never have the right to hit someone—Never
- Get adequate sleep
- Behave at sporting events the same way you want your children to behave
- Stay clear of angry people
- Recognize that what you value or believe others may not
- Don’t procrastinate
- Be organized
- Don’t assume that because you said something other will do it—you are not the center of the universe
- Know your pet peeves
- Be open to the opinions of others
- Avoid excessive overtime
- Take time for yourself
- Compromise
- Remember that your needs are not always the most important
- Play your favorite sport
- Don’t use illegal substances
- Call Carlos Todd today at 704-804-0841
- Be selfish sometimes and care for your own needs
- Build an emotional literacy
- Exercise
Carlos Todd, PhD