What did I learn about managing Human Emotions by working in a call centre?

If I was to point out at the most enjoyable as well as the most important period of my life so far from the point of view of learning life skills, it would without a doubt be the time between 2011 and 2014, the time I worked in a call centre. At that time and even today, I meet people who criticize the job profile of a call centre agent. But have we ever wondered the challenges faced by an employee pressurized by targets and minimal support, who is constantly on calls for about 8 to 9 hours a day. Sometimes, he or she needs to wait to even use the washroom as the breaks are scheduled so as to take care of the call flow (so that no calls are missed). Facing customer rants and abuses is one part of it but the real challenge is when in back to back calls you force yourself to smile and greet the customers even if the earlier caller hurled abuses on you for some insignificant reason which wasn’t your fault at all.

Challenges are many but today when I think of the top 3 things I learnt while working in a call centre the list goes something like this:

1. Ability to NOT take customer rants too personally. Initially it was challenge for me to deal with customer abuses and complaints, it did affect me on a very personal level, when my Quality trainer met me and noticed what I am going through, she put across to me a chunk of wisdom that was not just applicable in the call centre but on almost every aspect of life When someone is hurling abuses at you or complaints endlessly, understand that his anger is for the company or product or service and not on you personally. If this thought sinks in your subconscious, you will never ever feel sad even for the slightest bit ever again. Isn’t this applicable on life too? 
2. Stronger emotional control that allows you to smile and greet the next customer even if you were abused by the earlier customer. The more you face brutal customers, who sound like demons sent from hell, the more emotionally immune you become of getting offended. To top it up, you are supposed to greet every customer with a smile. Although, they don’t see you but a smile on the face does makes the customer feel that he/she is talking to a human and not a robot. Imagine how incredible life will become when you do not allow people to affect your inner calm 
3. You learn that the “World is not a very bad place after all”. Not all customers are irritated with you. Some of them are quick to appreciate and even write an appreciation email to the customer relations department with your name so as to help you get some brownie points in the eyes of the senior management. I have myself got many of these brownie points but they do not feel as special as the spoken words that we receive over the phone. Being too quick to adopt a notion that all customers are the same, is definitely the most unwise thing to do!!