It’s never nice when you’re being confronted. whether it’s on who ate the last cookie, or something far more serious, confrontation can be hard to handle as our instincts tell us to lash out, deny, and defend ourselves; regardless of if we’re in the wrong or not. Top Life Coach, Carole Ann Rice knows how easy it is to stand our grounds when we should really be taking a step back. So, she’s revealing her four ways to keeping your cool when you’re confronted:
1. Don’t make assumptions that they’re out to get you – assess the situation at hand. As the person confronts, they may simply be making an enquiry into something about why x, y, or z happened. In other words, don’t assume that their confrontation of you is negative and out to get you. You’re not backfooted straightaway if you keep level-headed and open-minded.
2. If you have done something wrong, admit to it – transparency is key here. Don’t let guilt or pride consume you; just be upfront about what you did. If you immediately begin to defend yourself, you’re on a losing wicket immediately. Instead of compensating or denying, admit that you’re wrong and explain why you did what you did.
3. Take a very, very, very deep breath – in the heat of the moment, even the simplest things get side-tracked like remembering to breathe properly. Take a deep breath in and count to five to regain your balance. It’ll give you time to respond reasonably rather than react violently.
4. Judge what you want the outcome to be before you respond – do you want it to be a continued row? Or do you want peace and reconciliation? Assess your preferred outcome and know how you can engage with the other party to get said outcome.
