At my first newspaper job, I had a writing coach named Tony who would offer Tony’s Tiny Tip of the Day (“Use action verbs! The words at the end of a sentence play jazz!”)
In honor of Tony, I share Tuesday’s tiny tip — something instantly implementable to boost your mood, self-worth, health, work or life in general.
Tip one is a suggestion for staying unruffled by your daily commute.
I live in Los Angeles, where driving in traffic happens on the daily, no matter what time it is or where you’re heading.
I used to yell at my windshield constantly while driving. In MY mind, I was yelling at other drivers, telling them something they needed to know, and BOY did they have it coming. That guy just cut me off!! This lady doesn’t know where the damn gas pedal is!!
I would get frustrated and let’er rip. I let my windshield HAVE IT. Top volume.
I don’t know why it took me so long to realize that I was the one yelling. The yelling was happening in MY CAR and MY HEAD. The other driver was probably oblivious and certainly unfazed by loud reprimands. Who was suffering?
I had to put a stop to this, and here’s what I did: I decided in advance that other drivers were very likely to annoy me and that I would not get riled up about it. I also left earlier whenever possible. It sounds simple but it totally worked.
So when a driver made an unexpected lane change or was going too slowly for my standards, I thought, “Just as I expected. LA traffic, what’re ya gonna do?” I would shrug and remind myself that this was par for the commute.
I started to look at delays and traffic nuisances as a predictable part of driving, no more worth getting upset over than the sun rising in the east and setting in the west.
This tiny attitude adjustment has helped me immeasurably. It’s not that I never get worked up in traffic, but it happens a lot less often, and I mostly arrive where I’m going in a calm state of mind.
I’m not sure how this is helpful to train commuters. Is it?
What other strategies have you tried to keep yourself calm in traffic?
You can find other Tiny Tips here.