Make sure to check yourself.

It’s often hard making the smart choice when your caught in the powerful grip of negative emotions. Instead of attempting to talk yourself down from the ledge try and catch yourself before it happens. What are the warning triggers and signs that your getting annoyed and irritated?

Don’t sit and dwell.

Some individuals tend to rehash incidents that got them upset. This only keeps you locked into negative emotions. It is unproductive. If you have issues unresolved this becomes painful. Switch to gratitude and what is working well. Make a list each morning of 10 things your grateful about.

Change your thinking.

Do this when your angry. We tend to awfulize and make things much worse in our heads than they really are. Cognitive restructuring can assist in helping you to replace negative thoughts and statements with positive ones.

Improve communication skills.

People will often jump straight to conclusions once angry. Out pops the first thing that comes into their mind. This can many times be hurtful and unkind. Try stopping and listening before you react. Take the necessary time to carefully think about your response. If walking away to collect yourself is helpful then do it.

Get out and get active.

Physical exercise will help you to clear your head and to decompress. You can release stored up tension and reduce your stress tremendously.

Recognize your triggers.

Be able to identify your triggers. What makes you mad? Is it the traffic, your boss, others telling you what to do, etc? Sit down and take the time to really think about this. Many people just go around upset and have no real idea what the issue is about.