You may have noticed that lack of impulse control can get you into all sorts of trouble. Generally speaking, the more problems you have controlling your impulses the more difficult and complicated your life becomes.
A lack of impulse control can make us say things we regret, be addictive, go for short term ‘advantage’ despite long term losses and eventually wreck your life and that of people around you. Our impulses tend to make us greedy, insensitive and thoughtless. Impulse is driven by emotion and the more emotional we become, the less clearly we are able to think.
Impulse stems from the desire for immediate gratification. Developing the ability to delay gratification enables you to mature as a human being and lead a more productive and happier life.
So impulse control is really about self mastery. If you are always at the beck and call of emotionally charged impulses then you are like a ship in a storm with no one at the helm.