This is probably the shortest chapter I will write.

As humans we are victims of emotion. If things go right, or wrong, or nothing happens at all, then these things called hormones affect us.

They make us grumpy, they make us happy and they make us say things we shouldn’t.

If you’ve been talking to a client that’s rude or get bad news there’s often a huge temptation to take it out on others or vent; but this is the wrong thing to do.

If you get some juicy gossip, or find out some amazing secret, then you might want to run to a friend or explode to a member of staff; and yet you shouldn’t.

You should adhere to a simple rule. Let 24hrs pass before you react.

24hrs gives you the time to reflect; on the information you need to digest; the time to plan your reaction and take the emotion or heat out of any conversation.

24hrs not only helps you, it helps the people you’re dealing with too. It gives them the same opportunity to calm down as you; which means you can both have a rational conversation that’s much more productive (and less likely to end up with an outcome you might forget).

Chapter Summary:

• Don’t let emotion get the better of you
• Leave 24hrs before you react to things that get you angry!

Read our next blog post “Visualise your goals”.