Taking The Wheel: Exercising Self-Control

Every day you need to use self-control. Where does self-control come from? What is it? How do you develop it? You begin to learn self-control as a child, such as when you were taught to be quiet in certain environments, and you continue to develop and strengthen self-control as you grow and mature.

Self-control is the ability to use common sense and intelligence to overcome emotions. Self-control is a learned skill to help you resist temptation, avoid harm, and become successful. As a teen, you use self-control when handling extracurricular activities, academics, social situations, and your health. There are multiple facets of self-control, meaning, you can control aspects of what you do, think, or say.

• Physical - What you do. You can choose to fight or to flee, to strike or not, to show certain emotions, or to practice hormonal or sexual control.
• Mental - What you think. You can learn to control bad or negative thoughts, and use decision-making skills to think through potential actions such as adopting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
• Verbal - What you say. You can refrain from screaming, or using foul, rude, or negative language.

Perhaps, for example, as a young child, you reluctantly went to the grocery store with your father. When you reached the candy aisle, you may have been taught to use self-control and ask politely for your favorite candy bar. Past experience may have reminded you that temper-tantrums or yelling would get you nowhere.

How about when you ask your parents for permission to go out with friends? You may know ahead of time to make sure your chores are finished and your homework is complete, and to ask politely. You might have learned this lesson if your parents did not allow you to go because your room was a mess, or you did not use a respectful tone when asking. This is an example of physical and verbal control.

Traffic Light Model

The Traffic Light Model is one method you can use to practice self-control. In this interactivity, you will see how this visual model can help you take the time to think about a situation before reacting to it. Click the player button to begin.

View a printable version of the interactivity.

Sports and Self-Control

Did you know that physical activity promotes and teaches self-control? Think about it, do you often see professional athletes in the media who are featured for their lack of self-control? Probably not, because as athletes mature, they learn to control their emotions and focus on doing better.

No matter whether you choose to play an individual sport, a partner sport, or a team sport, you should maintain your composure during all situations. If a referee or other official makes a bad call, there is no need to use foul language or gestures, because the official's call is, well, official. On the other hand, if you "go off" on the official, it may harm your team or provoke your teammates to act the same way. You can exhibit self-control by playing hard during the game to make up for what you think is a bad call.

Not everyone maintains self-control all the time. It is a learned and practiced response. Everyone is human and therefore prone to react. When you are playing a game and feel you might be emotionally out of control, use the Traffic Light Model to help you gain self-control and get back into the game.

 

Exercising Self-Control Review

Now that you have studied self-control, review your knowledge in this non-graded activity. Click the player button to get started.