Stop Making Bad Decisions When You’re Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired
Use the HALT method to control your impulsive behavior
We like to believe that we are conscious, mature creatures — making decisions based on reason and facts. And depending on our own self-awareness, discipline and emotional maturity we do make good decisions — regularly, almost without a fault when it comes to decisions that we have time to brew and think over.
But have you ever bought something on impulse just to make yourself feel better after a terrible day at work? Have you ever gone for some obviously poor choice of food just because you were way too tired to opt for a healthy one? Have you ever texted someone endlessly with no reply making a fool of yourself just because you felt so lonely that you felt your life was depending on their answer? Have you ever raised your voice and yelled uncontrollably at your kids for doing nothing in particular, just because your boss had angered you?
I know, I did. And I am not proud of it.
It seems that I had a very good reason for acting irrationally. I was hungry, angry, lonely or tired — or in some cases, a terrible mix of several of these.
HALT is the acronym for hungry, angry, lonely and tired — a popular tool used in addiction and recovery, to…
