I’m A Brain Researcher & This Mental Skill Can *Majorly* Improve Your Life

High emotional self-regulation is tied to success in work, school, and relationships.

For instance, if you were in the final push preparing for a meeting with a client but you noticed that you were feeling stressed and couldn’t concentrate, you might realize that, paradoxically, slogging on might waste more time than taking a break. You might get up, take a quick walk around the block, and then come back with renewed focus.

Interestingly, a little anxiety seems to help us learn something well in the first place, but to remember it effectively, anxiety must be lower.

In the relationship category, emotional self-regulation reaps huge rewards. Being able to manage your own emotions provides a major benefit because you don’t, for example, accidentally start fights by snapping at your partner when they ask an innocent question unrelated to the source of your stress.