How to Develop Self-Control

I remember a time a fellow player injured a friend of mine during an inter-school football match tournament. The player from the rival team missed the ball hence kicking hard on my friend's ankle which hurt so much. He was convinced that the kick was intended to hurt him and not accidental. A moment of heated argument ensured which almost led to a physical fight on the pitch but was quickly intervened by the referee. As the tension escalated, as his best friend, I joined in calming the situation in the pitch. We had a rough time convincing him that accidents occur in the pitch, which are not intentional. The tussle resulted in him being shown a red card and thrown out of the pitch citing gross misconduct. Out of the pitch, I tried to talk to him to forget about what happened, but he insisted on carrying out a ravage on the person who hurt him. However, he eventually calmed down and forgot about the issue. This meant that my intervention bore positive outcome in preventing a fight between the two. 

However, if I knew about the self-control development 4 steps, I believe it could be much easier in containing his anger. First, I would have stayed calm as I escorted him out of the pitch after being sown a red card. Secondly, I would empathize with his situation while trying to convince him that almost everyone on the pitch goes through a similar situation, but they manage to overcome it through self-control. Thirdly, I would calm him down by distracting his attention into paying close attention to the on-going match and cheering our team. Lastly, I would engage him in finding a solution to his hot tempers and reactions on the pitch where accidents and injuries are bound to happen at any time. This would include encouraging him to try to tame his tempers and have a positive perspective of the occurrences on the pitch to avoid negative emotions.