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Impulse Control

post #1 of 21
5/26/11 at 10:37pm
Thread Starter 
Whether it be buying something that you don't need, saying or doing something you know you shouldn't, or reacting to a situation in a negative way, how, and by what means, do you practice controlling your impulses?
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post #2 of 21
5/26/11 at 11:09pm
Patience, young grasshopper. Much of what you seek comes only with the wisdom of age and experience.
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post #3 of 21
5/26/11 at 11:52pm
I struggle more with sexual impulses rather than ones driven by consumerism or emotion. What I do is close my eyes, take a deep breath, and learn to accept the things I cannot change.
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post #4 of 21
5/26/11 at 11:57pm
I thought about posting in this thread, but I didn't.
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post #5 of 21
5/27/11 at 12:12am
Your ability to delay gratification will get you far in life. It's a rare trait. Not many people can do it, and the credit card companies rejoice as a result. There's very little that's worse than being young and loaded with debt thanks to buying stuff that you don't need. It's a terrible burden that robs you of the joy of life and of the unlimited possibilities you have in your youth. However, if you do decide to purchase an item, buy the best one you can afford. Accept no substitutes - they'll more often than not leave you dissatisfied. IOW - Don't try to turn a Volkswagen into a Porsche, you'll only end up with a weird looking Volkswagen. Saying or doing things you know you shouldn't will just get you into legal trouble or will get your ass kicked. Or you'll end up being a father at a ripe young age. Future=Ruined. You'll learn that one the hard way. You want the years to come to be your happiest. You can achieve this by exercising control over your impulses. Everyone has impulses, you just don't have to act on them - this will separate you from the plebs.
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post #6 of 21
5/27/11 at 12:21am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by willpower View Post
Your ability to delay gratification will get you far in life.

I believe this is very true.

Whenever I feel an impulse to do something, I always try to stop and ask myself why exactly I feel the way I do, and if the "need" is authentic, or just artificial.
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post #7 of 21
5/27/11 at 1:32am
think you could look up topics on emotional intelligence if you want to delve into this further. personally age and maturity are big factors in managing impulses. its like when you're young and desperate you'd bang any girl that walks into a bar and talks to you, while age and maturity would help you screen the fugs and the hittable.
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post #8 of 21
5/27/11 at 1:48am
impulse control is one of the things that I value most in people.
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post #9 of 21
5/27/11 at 10:25am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by acidboy View Post
think you could look up topics on emotional intelligence if you want to delve into this further. personally age and maturity are big factors in managing impulses. its like when you're young and desperate you'd bang any girl that walks into a bar and talks to you, while age and maturity would help you screen the fugs and the hittable.
Yes, I believe age and maturity do play a large role in managing your impulses; although, more so the latter, as age and maturity, unfortunately, don't always seem to appreciate in perfect union. I can think of a few fellow members who do a phenomenal job at exemplifying this.
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post #10 of 21
5/27/11 at 10:59am
Interesting topic.

One thing I learned from my boss is to not do anything in anger. Measure your words carefully and make no decisions in the heat of the moment. That helps me a lot with the kids and the Mrs.

Another thing: avoid the short-string deals unless it's something I've been wanting for a while and am willing to pay full price for anyway. Sometimes I just say 'eh, maybe tomorrow' and see if the want is still there. Lots of times, it's gone and most of the time it doesn't come back.

Finally - and this still helps me today - I spent a few years during school where I had the basics, and not much else, and I lived with others who were the same way - and I didn't feel like I was missing out on anything. I could probably toss about 60% of my possessions and not miss a thing - which makes me awfully reluctant to add to the mountain of stuff.
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post #11 of 21
5/27/11 at 11:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thomas View Post
Interesting topic. .

indeed

Quote:
One thing I learned from my boss is to not do anything in anger. Measure your words carefully and make no decisions in the heat of the moment. That helps me a lot with the kids and the Mrs.

ta-ruth, acting in anger is always a mistake. feigned and controlled anger is sometimes neccessary, but uncontrolled actions from anger never do any good.

my impulses with buying things could use to be tempered, the only thing that stops me is my bankroll, or lack thereof
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post #12 of 21
5/27/11 at 11:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by in stitches View Post
(...) my impulses with buying things could use to be tempered, the only thing that stops me is my bankroll, or lack thereof
I've been there and occasionally struggle with the WANT - but in truth I have more than I'll ever need or even wear out in this lifetime (excepting running shoes), so more purchases make very little sense. For a few things, I take an inventory of what I have and measure this against what I really need, and it makes buying more seem awfully pointless. Actually, this was a good exercise re: acquisitions: I have a herd of colognes, and for a while I tended to buy new ones based on samples or even word-of-mouth, especially if I could find a deal. It was a modest binge by SF monetary standards, to be sure, but still, it's a herd, and there will probably be some (a lot) left over when I pass on. So I made it a point to wear every one of them in rotation and not repeat until I'd been through them all. This took months. It re-acquainted me with what I'd forgotten about (Pareto principle being what it is) and really drove home how big the herd has gotten, and how ridiculous it is to mindlessly keep adding to it. Since then I've been a lot more judicious in my buying decisions. It also has helped that I've backed away from acquisition-themed discussion boards.
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post #13 of 21
5/27/11 at 11:20am
Like everything emanated from the id, to borrow a Freudian construct, one needs to examine scientifically proven methods to suppress it. I say a good way to control it is to condition yourself to a negative response when you've done something bad. Some people call this discipline I call it self-mutilation.
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post #14 of 21
5/27/11 at 11:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thomas View Post
...So I made it a point to wear every one of them in rotation and not repeat until I'd been through them all. This took months. It re-acquainted me with what I'd forgotten about (Pareto principle being what it is) and really drove home how big the herd has gotten, and how ridiculous it is to mindlessly keep adding to it. Since then I've been a lot more judicious in my buying decisions.

i do that with ties and cd's


Quote:
It also has helped that I've backed away from acquisition-themed discussion boards.

or clicking on certain members sig links
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post #15 of 21
5/27/11 at 10:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by willpower View Post
Your ability to delay gratification will get you far in life. It's a rare trait. Not many people can do it, and the credit card companies rejoice as a result. There's very little that's worse than being young and loaded with debt thanks to buying stuff that you don't need. It's a terrible burden that robs you of the joy of life and of the unlimited possibilities you have in your youth.

However, if you do decide to purchase an item, buy the best one you can afford. Accept no substitutes - they'll more often than not leave you dissatisfied. IOW - Don't try to turn a Volkswagen into a Porsche, you'll only end up with a weird looking Volkswagen.

Saying or doing things you know you shouldn't will just get you into legal trouble or will get your ass kicked. Or you'll end up being a father at a ripe young age. Future=Ruined. You'll learn that one the hard way.

You want the years to come to be your happiest. You can achieve this by exercising control over your impulses. Everyone has impulses, you just don't have to act on them - this will separate you from the plebs.

It's good to see this advice and possible tie in from your handle name...
These words are what I'm working to exercise over my next few formative years.
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