The ability to think clearly and maintain positive relationships with our environment is a critical skill set that is invaluable to both success and wellbeing. However, we often find ourselves navigating a professional world filled with people who lack the ability to think critically and act in a trustworthy manner.

It is no secret that people are more likely to be critical and aggressive when they are stressed or under pressure. However, stress can be managed and applied to a benefit if you know how to disarm critical aggressors. People often get caught in the trap of what is known as the “critical mass effect”. This is what happens when you reach a certain level of stress, and the level of stress reaches its critical mass. This results in a critical mass effect. To avoid this, you can either reduce the level of stress by removing the source, or you can reduce the level of critical mass by removing the effect.

So, how do we handle it? 

There are some mental practices and exercises that can disarm critical aggressors and turn anyone into a better thinker. 

Understand and Challenge Biases

The first step to defeating critical aggressors is understanding them. These are tendencies that we pick up from our surroundings that can shape our minds and behavior in unhelpful ways. Critical Aggressors can undermine your personal growth by getting in the way of your ability to change, see things from other perspectives, or build a better future for yourself.

Become More Self-Aware

Knowing your own thought process and values is a way to better understand yourself. A key component for this is to develop “self-awareness” and to understand your own “internal conflict”. With this knowledge, you can better understand yourself and make better decisions. Also, self-awareness is the key to self-defense, so consider the following five tips as a starting point to becoming more self-aware of yourself.

Understand your mental process

The ability to think independently, analyze problems, and make sensible decisions requires time and focus. The process of understanding how we do this is called “cognition”. Sometimes thinking is difficult, and when this happens, we can use a variety of strategies to help us regain control of our mental processes.

Develop Foresight

For people who are in the world of work, there is a constant struggle to avoid self-defeating behaviors that can harm team effectiveness. Whether you are in the boardroom, the courtroom, or a meeting room, it is important to try to anticipate the reaction of others to your actions. The best way to do this is to consider the feelings of others. 

To know more about mind exercises that provide tools for disarming critical aggressors, attend the compliance Prime webinar. The webinar will also include topics like identifying your assertive “hot spots”, “The Four Angry “I”s, “Four Faces of Anger Model”, and more.