I went to my first RI meeting last night. It reminded me of a Star Trek TNG episode where they came across a race that spoke only in titles of historical events. They have a cheat sheet of the most common phrases ("tools"). You break down an incident that occurred in your daily life and how you handled it using the tools and they go around and others mention a tool and how it applies to the situation. The idea is that you will become accustomed to thinking of things from that perspective and react more rationally (this is an oversimplification). Decisions are not rash and reactions are not as volatile. there are tons of self help resources out there that will give you similar techniques but I think what sets this apart is going to the meetings and participating to get the repetition so you will actually do it. A lot of books or seminars will get you really motivated but motivation has a really short shelf life; you need to grind it out to make it stick.