Intensely Positive Blog

Anger Can be a Motivator

Using Anger as  a Motivator

We spend a lot of time trying to figure out what motivates us:

1.  How big is your dream?
2. You’ve got to know your why!
3. What have you got to gain?
4.  Think about how good you’re going to feel and what you can do with the money!
5.  How can you help?

And having a passion to help someone can be effective, but we overlook a huge motivator that — in truth — is responsible for a LOT of progress and is much harder to stop, and that’s good ole ANGER! I have to tell you, ANGER can be scary!  When I was a younger man I got angry and at times it scared me, but that’s because it was immature, unfocused and essentially without purpose.  Anger, when properly harnessed and redirected, is a tremendous motivator!  Have you ever had someone tell you, “YOU CAN’T DO THAT!” and you came back with, “I’ll show you!”

Several years ago when coming through the ranks of the Professional Photographers Society, I had some things I needed to accomplish, but ONE OBSTACLE (person) seemed to be sabotaging everything I tried to do.  And one day I just got fed up! I got angry!  When I’m angry, I write, so I wrote a blog post and the jist of it was this:  “When faced with an obstacle there are three things you can do with it.  You can 1) go around it, 2) climb over it or 3) blow it to smithereens and drive leisurely through the space where the obstacle used to be!”

There were several reasons why I couldn’t post that article, but instead I harnessed the energy of that emotion. The Law of Attraction works on intense emotion! Joy is emotion, but so is intense anger; and both emotions will activate the law of attraction, and — IMHO — anger is a much stronger emotion than joy.  We normally associate anger with negativity — and it usually is, but it doesn’t have to be if the energy is channeled positively.  I mean the same fire that unbridled can destroy homes and forests, when contained and directed can power huge steam plants to create electricity, heat huge complexes and other things.  Fire isn’t inherently bad, and neither is anger if it’s channeled properly.

1.  Anger is not RAGE! It must be contained and focused.  My anger was focused on finding solutions to my problem; finding ways to get around or circumvent my obstacle! There HAD to be a solution and i was going to find it. When I asked the right question — how can I get around this — a number of answers presented themselves very quickly.

2. Anger must fuel determination.  “ I will NOT be denied!” When the answers were presented, I chose one and worked that plan. The anger was used to fuel my “why” and keep enough intensity involved.  Getting angry because someone said you couldn’t do something when you know you can, forces you to act with intensity rather than whence in pain and retreat.

3. Make sure the target is clear!  I was angry at a specific person, at a specific set of actions and results. My efforts were to neutralize their interference with my goals in a non-volatile way, and I found an ingenious way to make that happen. When executing my plan, I was not raging — I was calm, articulate, focused but intense and my mind was crystal clear about the result I was after.  The anger kept the ENERGY up that I needed to succeed. Many times we don’t succeed because we run out of energy. When you’re angry the energy is constantly regenerated.

4. When the job is done… let the anger go. Breathe. Celebrate your accomplishment; do a snoopy dance, write an “I told you so letter” or whatever your ritual is to end the batter. You CANT stay angry forever. The purpose of the anger is not hatred, it’s energy, intensity. You can be very intense without being angry… but sometimes there is not substitute for anger, like sometimes there’s no substitute for fire.  And anger — like fire — can also have a cleansing effect.

Keep the metaphor! There’s fire in the furnace, you’re fueling the engine, and when you don’t need the fuel anymore… let the fire die… and celebrate your wins.  Channeling your anger into a positive purpose is a matter of mindset, and when you master your mindset… you’ll master your life.

Give me your thoughts in the comments and…

Have an awesome day!

photo credit: Tambako the Jaguar via photopin cc

{ 8 comments }