| |
| |
|
. ..CLICK HERE TO TAKE RANDY ROSS' FREE Online "Unstoppable Success 101" Course. Increase Your Self Esteem And Improve Your Self Confidence |
|
|
|
Anger And Your Driving
Are you driving under the influence of impaired emotions? Dateline: December 4, 2002. Orange County ,California. A 29 year old man was shot to death, an apparent victim of road rage. According to newspaper accounts, he had a reputation for never backing down from a fight. The man and his half brother were heading home from a plumbing job when the trouble began. Apparently, three men in another car zoomed in front of their car. These men started hurling profanities and flashing obscene gestures at the brothers, who returned the insults. Things escalated until a gun was pulled. Rather than backing down, the man got out of his car and began walking toward the gunman. Two shots rang out, missing the man who then continued to walk toward the gunman until he was shot and killed. While this tragic incidence is illustrative of an extreme case of aggressive driving, there are thousands of lesser cases in the United States yearly. According to he AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, incidents of aggressive driving have increased by 7% every year since 1990; however, few courts mandate anger management treatment for traffic offenders. FIVE ZONES OF AGGRESSIVE DRIVING Research by Dr. Leon James at the University of Hawaii reveals five categories of aggressive driving. Which zone do you or a loved one fall in? THE UNFRIENDLY ZONE - Example: closing ranks to deny someone entering your lane because you're frustrated or upset. HOSTILE ZONE - Example: Tailgating to pressure another driver to go faster or get out of the way. VIOLENT ZONE- Example: Making visible obscene gestures at another driver. LESS MAYHEM ZONE- Example: Pursuing other cars in a chase because of provocation or insult. MAJOR MAYHEM ZONE - Example: Getting out of the car and beating or battering someone as a result of a road exchange. DO AGGRESSIVE DRIVERS SEE THEMSELVES AS SUCH? According to Dr. James and his research team, drivers who consider themselves as almost perfect in excellence (with no room to improve) also confessed to significantly more aggressiveness than drivers who see themselves as still improving. What this means is that despite their self-confessed aggressiveness, 2 out of 3 drivers still insist on seeing themselves as near perfect drivers with almost no room to improve. These drivers see "the other guy" as the problem and thus do not look at their own aggressive driving behavior. WHAT CAUSES AGGRESSIVE DRIVING BEHAVIOR? While there is no one standard definition for aggressive driving, many psychologists see anger as the root cause of the problem. Regardless of the provocation or the circumstances related to problems on the road, it is ultimately our emotional state, our stress levels and our thinking patterns that either cause us to drive aggressively or lead us to be the victims of others. In short, many of get us get in trouble because we are driving under the influence of impaired emotions, especially anger. Like drunk driving, aggressive driving is more than a simple action or carelessness; it is a behavioral choice that drivers make. It is normal and natural to feel angry when certain events frustrate us on the road. But, how do you deal with these angry feelings to cope with the situation more effectively? TWO WAYS TO COPE WITH IMPAIRED DRIVING EMOTIONS: Research clearly shows that reducing stress and changing your self-talk can help you cope. 1.REDUCE YLUR STRESS. Driving is emotionally challenging because unexpected things happen constantly with which we must cope. We often drive under the pressure of time, or the pressure of congestion and delays which add to our general stress level. Suggestions include listening to relaxing music or educational tapes on the road, leaving 15 minutes sooner, and getting up earlier so you are less rushed. 2. CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE with different self-talk. As a result of earlier life experiences, we all have "automatic" thoughts that are generated by our mind when certain "triggers" occur when driving. We can change our perspective and thus our angry feelings by consciously changing this "self-talk." For instance, if cut off in traffic think something like ?that "jerk" may actually be a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children." CONCLUSIONS: If driving under the influence of impaired emotions, you can make a personal decision to cope with your angry feelings in a more effective way. This will help you avoid aggressive driving or becoming the victim of another aggressive driver. Reducing your stress level and learning to change your self-talk are effective and powerful tools to cope with the challenges of driving in our fast-paced society. About The Author Dr Tony Fiore, The Anger Coach, is a psychologist, and anger management trainer in Southern California.To subscribe to his free newsletter, "Taming the Anger Bee" visit his website at http://www.angercoach.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Success - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Halt All Complaining Have you ever thought about you have a lot to be thankful for. Lets look at some of the things most people don't look at:I have a whole body that works. Affecting Positive Results Through Affirmations Last time we talked about how to begin building the mind's powerful framework for success. The lesson we needed to learn was that self-talk has a powerful affect on the results we achieve. Are You Inviting Misery into Your Life? Often, I've come across individuals who, while in conversation, will stumble into a rendition about 'how miserable life is.' The adult children are wrecking havoc in the home, the job's not going well, money is short, and a whole other slew of treacherous stories. Dispell Anger in 2 Simple Steps "It really works!" "Well, I'll be?!"BJ like so many others in the workshop was astounded that a technique so simple could produce such an amazing result. You must try it. Thinking Your Way To Success: Materializing Your Goals Through The Power of Thought THOUGHTS are powerful. The power of THOUGHTS cannot be underestimated. Life Changing Attitude Do you really believe that there is anything in this world that is impossible?I'm 21 and I had to grow up at accelerated rates because of multiple circumstances in my life. One of them was the divorce of my parents, my mother had no money and my father didn't seem to care about me and my brother. Life Issues Pt. 3 - An Attitude of Gratitude An Attitude of Gratitude. How important is this to you on your path to success? I sincerely believe that everyone should consider this simple but effective fact. The Rearview Mirror and the Stuff of Life Recently, a dear friend who has been both a coach and a mentor called me asking if he and his wife could be of any help. He had learned that I was experiencing significant challenges due to my mother's three-week hospital stay because of liver failure. My Attitudes "If you don't enjoy getting up and working and finishing your work and sitting down to a meal with family or friends, then the chances are you're not going to be happy. If someone bases his or her happiness or unhappiness on major events like a great new job, huge amounts of money, a flawlessly happy marriage or a trip to Paris, that person isn't going to be happy much of the time. Help Yourself to a Better Future There are very many methods for achieving improvement to our personal confidence and self esteem, far too many to investigate in depth in a short information file. So on this page, we will have a look at the most popular and, for most people, the most effective. The Trouble with the Mind Bernard always had a problem with money.He was always lacking it. How To Self Talk Your Way To Success? Dear Friends,All human beings have a unique ability right from birth, the ability to "think" and express his/her thoughts in the form of "speech", "written words" etc.. Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Most of what we've been taught about how to be happy, how to be successful, how to get what we want was well intended - but wrong.We've been told that we have to work hard to succeed and when we're a success we'll be happy. The Enchanted Cottage Decades ago, I saw a metaphysical movie that wonderfully illustrates the alchemical power of love. In "The Enchanted Cottage," a homely, self-effacing maid and a blind, crippled war hero fall in love. Quick Fixes: Happiness In A Bottle This is the age of the Quick Fix - the magic bullets that claim to take away our sorrows, our tiredness, our sadness.You need look no farther than your mailbox to see the range of remedies - prescription drugs and supplements - being plugged for everything from stress to low energy. Attitude Is Everything! Make it Great! Change your attitude, change your lifeIn my experiences, I've found that opportunities are awarded most often to the person who had the best ATTITUDE for the job, not the most APTITUDE for the job. By changing your attitude to be more positive, people will want to talk to you, and you'll get more opportunities. Life Energy There is a growing appreciation of the impact of psychic factors on the causation and exacerbation of many physical illnesses. For instance such problems as irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis and even cancer have been felt to have such psychically based links. Get Some Attitude! You've been looking for a job for as long as you can remember. Or you've written that exam more times than you can count. Passion To Succeed "Spiritual Intelligence" (SI) is the ability of a person to acknowledge and observe established principles that can affect his potential to succeed. This may be simple and practical, but some have missed the point. Living with Lunatics: They're Crazy and They're in Charge! They're out there? they look like people you know, but they're different. Someone has sucked out their brains and turned them into mindless oafs.
|
| home | site map | Randy Ross Unstoppable Success 101 Bryan Adams SEO | Free and Near Free Content, Links And Web Site Traffic |
| © 2006 |
