Overcoming Childhood Baggage

By Marty Nemko

Your childhood affects how you handle conflict, react to authority, take and give criticism and compliments. For example, as a child, were you considered stupid? Made to feel guilty for speaking up? Expected to live with scarcity? Disliked by your parents? Were your role models inadequate: for example, did you have a lazy or short-tempered parent?

What can you do today?
Every time you feel uncomfortable at work, in a memo pad, write the event, your internal response to it, a childhood-rooted explanation for your internal response (if there's one), your external response, and what, if anything, you want to do differently next time.