“The smart self-management technique is to leap with intention. Don’t wait for a deadline. You pay a price for that. Don’t invite peer pressure. You pay a price for that. Don’t let the traffic wear you down–you might pay a huge price for that.”
One of the hardest things to teach my students is that they need to curb their impulses. Many react and don’t think about how their actions will have an impact on their future or other people’s future. They need to stop and think about the consequences.
I try to have them state the problem and list the consequences. Once they know that they can live with the consequences, they can make the decision. As they get used to this process, they won’t need to write down the problem and consequences. They will be able to work this out in their minds. Sometimes this process will take longer for some things than others.
Another good exercise is the “what if” game. I like to ask students about situations when they might have to make a quick decision and don’t have time to go through the decision-making process. It is like having a fire drill and we can call this decision drill.
If they can prepare for situations like this, they can think ahead about the consequences of their actions. Hopefully, when the time comes, they will be able to make the appropriate decision because they would have planned for this possibility.
This is the way that I teach my students to stay ahead of the impulse reaction. They need to learn to make decisions with intention. This is a way to teach them how to be an adult instead of a child. Children can get away with reactions, but adults take action with intention.
How do you teach students to curb their impulse behavior? Please share.
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