BOBA 502 – Emotional Intelligence

6 Seconds Pause

Hello and welcome back.

Previously you have explored many techniques for self management and
control, in this video we will explore one of the easiest and very important
techniques to apply to regain control of yourself, your emotion, and
therefore control your behavior.
This technique is called 6 seconds pause.
The 6 seconds pause is a self-regulation technique you can use to gain
self-control during an emotionally-charged or escalating situation.
This technique creates a time gap in which you can force your brain to put
emotions on hold, and then engage your analytical brain, so that you can
choose wisely the constructive response to the situation that caused the
emotion.
During the 6 seconds technique you make sure to engage your new brain
for at least 6 second or more, which is the minimum time your emotional
brain needs to cool-down, and create what is called an emotional
interruption.
Remember the famous saying, “when you are angry, count from 1 to 10
before responding”.
This is exactly the application of the 6 seconds pause technique.
You can easily have these 6 second by applying any of the following
options:

You can use math, by counting from 1 to 10, or reminding yourself with a
mathematical equation that is important in your work

You can Also use Religion, by doing a quick prayer, or saying a few words
that will make you relax and it helps spiritually too.

You can use meditation, close your eyes and immediately travel mentally
to a happy place, or what people like to call take a mental vacation

You can use remembering, by trying to remember the full names of 6 of

your friends, the names of 6 hotels you visited in the past year, your 6
favorite Tom Hanks movies, or anything similar.

You can also use breathing, by taking a few deep breaths in a sequence of
3-seconds inhale, 3 seconds hold, then 3-seconds exhale. That is more
than 6 seconds.

You can use physical exercise. Change your physical position, so stand up
or sit down, or take a walk, and if possible exercise for a few minutes. It
has an amazing impact on cooling down emotions.
You can use water, water has an amazing impact on emotions, so, if you
can quickly take a bath, if you can’t then walk to the restroom and wash
your face twice. If you can’t then simply drink water, and make drinking
water a habit

Another thing you can do, which is breaking something. Put all the
negative energy and emotion into a small object and break it. By the time
you break it into 2 or 3 pieces, you will cool-down and regain control.
Just please make sure to plan this one upfront. So get a few plastic or
other kinds of small toys and keep them around you everywhere. When
you are emotional, immediately find the nearest one and break it. It is
always much safer to break a plastic toy than to break a relationship.
I am sure you can find dozens of ways to have this 6-seconds pause, even
in better ways than what was suggested.
I would encourage you to think about your specific situation at home, at
work, with your family, friends, clients, and so on.
Plan up front, and practice different techniques that can work in different
situations and be ready to gain control of your emotion and behavior in all
situations.
You will always be a winner!
Thank you for watching this video, now you can proceed to the next step
in the module where you can explore another important technique called
“3R”, and I will see you in the next video.