Transforming Your Anger Into Motivation

I am admittedly human, which means I have flaws, one of them being occasional anger. Growing up I would let other kids get to me which often lead to fist fights and getting into trouble. In fact I used to have this things where every time I got really angry or frustrated I would bite down on my left hand so I didn’t do anything stupid like punch them. This move actually left me with a scar on my left hand for life. Eventually I learned the best response to someone calling you something offensive like “faggot” or “retard”, was to just laugh it off and pretend it didn’t not get to you. Once bullies don’t get the negative response they feed off of, they mostly will leave you online.

Once I went into high school I had grown considerably and since I was 6’4” I never really had a problem with bullies after that point because bullies are cowards so they go for the weakest targets. However there were still many situations that made me frustrated and angry and I would talk back and get in trouble for something that I thought was wrong. Sometimes looking back I was in the right, but other times I look back and think now that my anger lead me to make decisions that probably made me come off as a complete asshole. For example if a girl I had a crush on didn’t find me attractive and then started hooking up with my friend, or I completely failed a test that I tried to study very hard for, I still found myself getting extremely angry. Although I found myself getting very depressed for a bit, It took me until my sophomore year of highschool to figure out something that worked for me, which was to turn my anger into motivation.

I have always struggled with motivation to go to the gym, study, or better myself, but with a technique I used I was able to find that hidden motivation within me. Instead of going home after school to sulk and comfort eat, I would go to the gym and think about everything that made me angry. I focused on one thing really intensely and I would push the anger out with action. I would picture something like one of my friends taking off my crush’s dress and use that anger to motivate me to get bigger muscles and become more attractive to other girls. This sounds stupid I know, but when I harnessed my anger I was able to literally lift 5-10 pounds more and for a longer period of time. I found my workouts improved and so did my results. Like adrenaline, when you feel anger surging through your body, you get a burst of energy.

The best is eventually I started to have less anger in general and I thought about how petty my problems were. The anger for me would dissipate while working out and I started to feel less depressed and better about myself. I wasn’t really on top of the world but it proved effective for controlling my emotions. You find that the last thing you want after a hard workout is to be angry, your mind is so tired it doesn’t have room for it. Once you get into the routine of things you don’t even need anger anymore to help you get through workouts, it just becomes part of your life. I spent a lot of time blaming myself and others, but once I started to take action I felt better, like there was a possibility of an ultimate endgame for me. After you meet the goals you set out towards early on, you look back and see that your emotions and day to day control of them has gotten better over time. This was what I found in my case anyway.

I thought that sharing this info might be helpful to some people out there, especially people who are trying to control some anger in their lives or struggle with motivation. Harnessing your anger can put you down a terrible path or a great one depending on how you use it. This was how I was able to turn my anger into motivation, but everyone is different so I cant guarantee it will work for you. If you have your own techniques or things you do to control your emotions or stop anger please let me know in the comments, I would love to hear them.