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Emotional Development Skills:
Emotional Management
responding to success
responding to failure
responding to humor
managing dissonance
asking for help
recognizing emotions
expressing emotions appropriately
coping
grieving
managing frustration
managing worry
maintaining balance
taking risks
using intuition
making decisions
being confident
being patient
being assertive
being nurturing
being courageous
being competitive
At various times throughout your life, you will be in situations that require you to use each of these
skills for emotional management. Realize that by improving your performance with any one skill,
you are making a contribution to your overall emotional well-being. Imagine the growth that occurs
when you focus on improving several skills. A few of the skills most important to your success and
emotional health as a student are discussed in more detail.
Responding to failure
How a person responds to an unsuccessful outcome, and his or her subsequent actions is an especially
important skill. Individuals who are adept at responding to failure display emotional maturity and
balance. They are able to reduce the impact of the failure by realizing that a failure is only a temporary
outcome and does not diminish current strengths. This is in contrast to those who feel self-pity and
make excuses after a failure.
When an unsuccessful event happens, a person who is strong at responding to failure:
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puts the event/failure in proper perspective
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self-assesses and determines what can be improved and identifies how to make the improvement
(realizing that overcoming the failure will require some extra effort)
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continues to recognize and believe in his or her personal strengths
Responding to success
How a person responds to a successful outcome, and his or her subsequent actions is a skill. Those
who are strong with this skill are humble about their accomplishments and have learned to build upon
their successes. This is in contrast to those who behave in a cocky manner and live in the glory of past
accomplishments.
When a successful event happens, a person who is strong at responding to success:
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is future-oriented rather than living in the past
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looks for areas to improve (in the future)
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enjoys the journey on the road to a success and does not dwell strictly on the outcome
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maintains emotional balance; he or she doesn’t get too high and puts the accomplishment in the
proper perspective