A Better Solution To Anger.

Anger rarely makes life better.

No-one says their relationship has improved because their partner is more angry with them. You are not going to improve your promotion prospects because you get more angry around the office. I’ve never heard anyone making a new year resolution to get angry with their kids more often!

Of course not. You already know the damage anger can do to your relationships, your happiness and your mental health.

The question is what can you do about it?

Some of us are embarrassed to admit we get angry so we prefer to call it frustration, irritation or annoyance (or is that just me?). But it is the same root emotion which shuts off the rational part of our brain as every cell is summoned in defence of our position and self-esteem. As George Nathan says ‘no-one can think clearly when their fists are clenched’.

We are rarely at our best when anger is flooding through our veins. We know we need to calm ourselves if we are to act and speak wisely. But how can we do that? Lots of advice centres around counting to ten or breathing deeply. However, this only deals with the symptoms and rarely works in the long term.

A better way is to find a way to deal with the root cause.