stressed

[me11ie1]

Hi I work in sales and get very frustrated and angry.. I've even ended up crying. Any advice on controlling my emotions

[Sir Cary Cooper]

The question you ought to ask yourself is 'am I in the right job'. Most people who go into sales know the ups and downs, and are used to being rejected, frustrated and the like. The issue is do you enjoy overall or are you stressed most of the time. If the latter, you might consider what else you might do given your the skills you have.

[Adam Eason]

Hello me11ie1,

Firstly, you might like to have a glance at my reply on another thread about generic ways to learn to dissipate stress: viewtopic.php?f=688&t=6859

However, many people learn to adapt and cope well with the types of emotions you are citing. Initially, anger and frustration may well indicate that you truly care about achieving in your field, so perhaps framing these emotions to some extent in this fashion may help alleviate the severity. You might like to think of framing these feelings in any other way that are progressive or positive, even if that does do not feel wholly sincere at this stage.

When they (negative emotions) become too much however, to the extent whereby it makes you cry, then perhaps you need to look for coping strategies to deal with anger and frustration. Learning to relax, learning to use your cognitions effectively, being able to let negative emotions abate and subside without catastrophising are all useful skills. Even things such as breathing exercises, writing down your thoughts or counting to 10 can help greatly.

If you'd like more information, do PM me and I can point you in the direction of ways to seek out resources to help with such.

Most importantly, I hope you find a positive outcome. My very best wishes to you.

[Janine Ward]

For some practical tips for anger and frustration management try having a think about what it is that actually pushes your buttons at work? Is it a certain type of sale, person or thing? Are there times of day that are worse or better? Once we work out the different triggers for your frustration it is a bit easier to preempt when the frustration may happen. This may help you to also figure out if you want to stay in sales.

Once you notice the triggers if you can reduce the triggers or lessen the impact then it is less likely that you will feel frustrated. Try writing them down then thinking about the different ways the triggers can be avoided or lessened and make a plan that is realistic, time limited, specific, achievable and measurable or (SMART) to tackle these.

If this doesn't work try relaxation when your frustrated, simply breathing in for a count of 3, holding for a count of 3, breathing out for a count of 3 and holding before taking another breath. The reason why you get so emotional and cry is our response to situations which includes a rush of adrenaline which can cause us to hyperventilate, pupils dilate, eyes blur, hot or cold feelings, tingling in fingers, sick feelings, crying and dry mouth. Try counting backwards in 3s from 100 or other things to distract you as the adrenaline rush subsides after a few minutes unless we feed it with more frustration.
I hope this helps!