Is Impulsiveness a Good or Bad Thing?

impulsivenessImpulsiveness is often viewed as something undesired, unwanted. This kind of behavior can either help us or get us into trouble. It all depends on each and every individual’s personality and perception about impulsiveness.

Impulsiveness can be either seen as a bundle of traits or flaws. The most objective perception of this behavior includes the traits and flaws that can be identified in impulsive people. As long as you are aware of most patterns that form your behavior you can keep the flaws under control and exploit your traits.

You Are Not Afraid of Changes
You aren’t afraid of trying new stuff, and this is why you take chances and you can achieve many great things. The disadvantage is that you might end up starting a lot of things and not finishing them.

The Foot in the Mouth Syndrome

There is a saying that goes like this: think before you speak. You sometimes find yourself blurting words out and then realize that some of them might be interpreted the wrong way. You end up offending many people this way and creating a lot of awkward situations. Just try to analyze things a bit and think of a politer way to communicate something.

Having Fun

Impulsive persons tend to have a lot of fun. They are also happy about who they are and their views of life help them accomplish their goals. But sometimes the thrill of having fun is a short term goal that prevents impulsive people from seeing the bigger picture or focus on more important long term goals.

Not Sticking to Standards and Plans

Impulsive people hate handling deadlines, plans, patterns and different standardized concepts and mentalities. This is a pro for creative minds, but analytical minds suffer if they like to be in control they need deadlines and certain patterns to work with. Impulsiveness can harm the productivity in some cases and the normal conduct one has to have in the traditional work place. Not being able to meet deadlines and stick to a certain plan can have many negative outcomes.

The Lack of Focus

Keeping focused on a certain detail or piece of information is vital nowadays. Impulsive people get bored easily and find it hard to focus on something. This can affect the interactions with other persons, the work etiquette and other important areas in one’s life. Impulsiveness can also lead to impulse purchases, which can really add up over time. If you can’t stay focused when shopping, it could cost you a good deal of money in the long term!

So impulsiveness isn’t necessarily a good or bad thing—it’s all in how you handle it. You can keep the good side of having an impulsive behavior and diminish the flaws that come with such a personality trait. If you really feel that you’re losing control you can sign up to some workshops that help you manage your impulsiveness. If this fails, you can always see a therapist that can provide you with the necessary information to better understand your behavior.