bnger isn’t something I want to control. In fact, upon confronting an aggressive mood, I tend to unleash it on complex tasks. Most unpleasant bursts of energy are potentially convertible. Once you are mindful of your feelings, you can alter the outcome.
In a social event about anger management, I was eager to understand how people confront anger and control it.
During the session, I learned of ways anger reduces our performance at work. My curiosity led me to ask a question in a broader sense.
Is it logical to observe the effect of anger in work, or should we focus on its root cause?
Hearing diverse opinions from like-minded individuals helped me observe a pattern of shared belief of whether anger is inherently good or bad. Unfortunately, most held the view of the latter.
Days passed, yet my mind regurgitated ideas about our conversation during that session. Then, I came to a realisation; One constructive realisation: What if we could channel our anger into a force of good?
To understand this idea, I have come up with a three-step process for using the Anger GPS:
- The Cause of Anger
- Findings & Solutions
- Steering the Energy
…
The Cause of Anger
Before full-time blogging, I was a product designer. In that line of work, you need to ask the right questions.
But how Can I do that? Using the root cause analysis. A technique designers use to understand the root cause of a problem.
So, to find out the real reason we get angry, I ran a scenario in which I could find enough data to understand the nature of one’s anger.
A Root Cause Analysis
This is a simple exercise anyone can perform to find out why something doesn’t work and how they come about.
To perform this analysis, you must ask Why questions and keep doing it until you receive enough data to gather insightful information about a problem.
In this scenario, our test subject, Jeff, is hostile at work, demonstrating aggressive behaviour, which can diminish or potentially alter his co-workers’ moods.
1.Why did Jeff get angry?
He overslept and missed an important meeting at work.
2. Why didn’t he wake up?
The alarm didn’t kick in because he forgot to charge his phone.
3. Why did the phone’s battery die?
Because Jeff spends an average of five hours on social media, which drains the phone’s battery.
4. Why does Jeff overuse social media?
He is surrounded by stuff he doesn’t use, and he doesn’t have a meaningful connection with them.
5. Why is he surrounded with so much clutter?
Jeff gains temporary bursts of joy from his clutter, and social media is a clutter that amplifies such moments.
…
Findings & Solutions
As you can see, with only five questions, we understand why Jeff is aggressive.
Our findings might not be (and probably aren’t) accurate, but they shed rays of light on major problems which (potentially) intensify his anger.
To grasp a rich understanding of a subject, it’s imperative to work with objective and feasible information.
As a designer, I can confidently tell that a destructive factor in your findings can be your subjective biases during research.
So, Jeff is surrounded by eternal possessions — joyless and finite. Stuff that has robbed him of essential tasks. However, Jeff can start with simple changes — Lasting events with meaningful moments of joy.
For example:
- Participate in social events and become curious about people’s stories
- Use the 5-second rule to overcome his social anxiety
- Invest more time in face-to-face communication with his friends and family
- Seek professional help from medical experts to overcome deep issues
…
Steering the Energy
I began writing this article when I was fed up with plenty of tips to control anger. I sought a solution to lessen aggressiveness and mitigate our intense emotions into a positive force.
What is it?
Anger GPS is our emotional navigator, allowing us to utilise emotional inertia in an important task. Here’s how it works:
I wake up feeling angry due to a low-quality REM sleep or a nightmare. I have enough energy to make a scene. Instead, I don’t commit irresponsible actions and channel them into a challenging task requiring physical activity.
For example, instead of unloading my negative energy onto someone, I channel it towards a 5K run or a difficult activity prone to procrastination.
How can it be done?
Three simple steps:
- Perform a breath exercise with open eyes and another with closed eyes.
- Find a complex task that requires energy.
- Use anger as fuel to compensate for your lack of energy.
Jeff’s morning routine can benefit from his anger as such:
- Jeff inhales while counting from five to one. Then, he holds his breath for three seconds and exhales, counting from five to one.
- He repeats the previous step, but this time with closed eyes.
- When the wind settles, he begins a straining task.
- He doesn’t lose momentum due to feeling tired, as his anger is fuel to continue his work.
Bear in mind you shouldn’t suppress your anger. Instead, focus on a task and imagine the anger fueling your engine.
Why does it work?
Our negative emotions can be beneficial once used as a proxy for psychological betterment.
Instead of disregarding your aggressive emotions, I encourage embracing them with an open mind. Learn methods of emotional well-being as tools to shape your psyche into a morally positive force.
The great thing about the Anger GPS is that you can improve it based on what works best for you.
…
Few Words on Anger
- There’s a massive difference between anger and rage — the latter being destructive and negative.
- There are charismatic ways of informing people about your mood without appearing confrontational.
- Sometimes, an aggressive person isn’t angry because of you or your actions.
- Often, it’s not all about you; Accumulation of emotional clutter can lead to hostility.
- The hindsight is powerful in suppressing rage against unpleasant verbal expressions.
…
Thank you for reading this story. I don’t remember writing about deep emotional feelings, and as someone with a designer background, I felt I could help my readers utilise any intense feelings to a positive outcome.
I hope I could’ve helped you in one way or another. I love to read your opinions about this matter in the response section.
…
Thank you for reading my story on Medium.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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Photo credit: John Forson on Unsplash
