Sometimes the littlest things can set people off. At work, at traffic, at home, at the store, it doesn’t really matter. It seems like so much of this anger’s built up and stored away into this balloon that’s ready to be popped. It only takes one little bitty prick of the needle to set the thing rupturing and going all over the place. When’s the last time you enjoyed an hour and a half in traffic?
“These split ends are so frustrating! Now if only I could turn them into successful business ventures… I’d be rich!”
Probably a very long time. I also hazard to guess that when you had such a frustrating time, you didn’t use it to your own advantage to succeed. Sounds weird, I know. But, if you’re building your self-control, your positivity and your success through using your anger to succeed, you’ve opened up a whole new world of productivity and efficiency. Let’s jump into a couple ways you can do this.
Number One, Put It In The Motivation Bucket
Sometimes you’re just not going to know how to handle anger. That’s when it’s time to put it in your motivation bucket. Picture this imaginary bucket of infinite depth on, let’s say, your right hip. Anytime you meet with some little frustration or event that causes you anger, picture that emotion wrapped up into a little red ball and go ahead and put it in that bucket.
Just push it down there. It’ll sink down and it’ll build your motivation to succeed and to get over this in the future. It’s something you just have to practice, but this mental exercise helps you take away some of your focus on the actual emotion. It’s a good thing to practice.
Number Two, Bank On The Six Second Wait
After you’ve started to build up your motivation bucket, there will be some things that just set you off so much that you won’t even remember that tool that you’ve just built. This is when you need to remember your next level of defense, the six second wait. This is where you have to promise yourself to not immediately respond to anything.
You must count to at least six inside before you say anything. Focus, calm down, and promise not to let anything come out of your lips until you’ve gotten past that six seconds. And after some practice, you’ll find that it’s much easier to keep that initial thought that you just want to throw out and destroy the person with. Inside, all pushed into your motivation bucket for succeeding later.
Number Three, Consider At Least One Point From The Other Person’s Point Of View
If you thought the other two were tough, this is one of the toughest. Actually stopping whatever you’re doing after stuffing your bucket, waiting six seconds and being in the conversation a little bit more is being on the other side of the table, in their shoes and seeing what they see.
How can you picture yourself from a third person perspective? Talking, acting and looking like? What are you actually saying? What does your face look like? How are you making the other person feel? These are things that once you start to pay attention to, you might just realize there are better ways to handle what you are doing.
Number Four, Figure Out Your Hot Buttons
If you know that you have a very hard time being critiqued about work that you are very close to, then you need to set up some steps that put buffers between you and direct critiquing. This is just a small example. The main point here is that if you know exactly what puts you down the path of needing these tools to control your anger. Don’t just bank on reactive tools to protect you, build some proactive resources so that you can prevent any of this from happening or at least slow it down.
Frustration No More – Just Success
If you’re tired of living your life in complete anger and frustration, you can use that energy that you’re just letting fly away to help you succeed for your future. Take the anger that you have, put it in your motivation bucket, wait six seconds, consider at least one point from the perspective of the other person, and figure out your hot buttons, so you can protect yourself in the future. Own and take heed of these tactics and you’ll have a strategy for having greater output in your life.