CASEL defines self-management as the abilities to manage one's emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively in different situations and to achieve goals and aspirations. This includes the capacities to delay gratification, manage stress, and feel motivation & agency to accomplish persona/collective goals. Some skills include:

• Managing one’s emotions

• Identifying and using stress-management strategies

• Exhibiting self-discipline and self-motivation

• Setting personal and collective goals

• Using planning and organizational skills

• Showing the courage to take initiative

• Demonstrating personal and collective agency

We depend on executive functions and emotion management every day and therefore students benefit from these skills being explicitly taught so that when situations arise, students will be able to more easily access these skills previously learned.