Anger is a natural feeling that is inherent among us humans. In fact, it is something that makes us normal as even saints, apostles, and Christ himself felt this strong emotion at one point. However, just because anger is normal doesn’t mean that it’s always warranted. There are, as it is, healthy forms of anger and those types of anger that can be harmful, even fatal.
If you have (or someone you know has) anger management issues, it’s critical for you to proactively act on them before things turn for the worse. Keeping control of your anger episodes is one way of preventing such a strong and negative emotion from consuming you and making your life hell. Here are some anger management tricks that you should try soon:
1. Identify what triggers your anger
In many cases like in war, knowing who your enemies are will help you prepare for their potential attacks. Specifically, you’ll know what measures you have to do based on your enemies’ actions. The same can be true when it comes to battling your anger. You have to make an inventory of the things that trigger your anger episodes. Is it hearing someone talk about your physical features? Do you get angry when your commands were not heeded? By identifying your triggers, you’ll have a better chance of controlling your anger when you know that a particular situation will likely tick you off.
2. Assess your anger
Not all kinds of anger are bad. Some types of anger, apparently, are pretty normal given the context of the triggering factor. As such, you have to ask yourself a basic question: is your anger normal given the situation, or is it unfounded? For example, if you see someone being humiliated or bullied, it’s perfectly normal to be angry at the aggressor. However, if you get angry at someone just because the person did not hear what you said, then that is anger that is not warranted.
3. Do some relaxation once anger sets in
Anger management experts are united in saying that one way of quickly controlling episodes the moment one starts feeling it is through certain relaxation techniques. Among the most common ones are deep breathing, doing physical activities, and counting to ten. These may seem like mundane things but they help a lot in diverting your attention away from the things or situations that trigger your anger.
4. Consider undergoing therapy
If you think that your anger couldn’t be fixed by simple remedies, then you have to consider professional help. There are local facilities that provide services such as dialectical behavior therapy and anger management to individuals with uncontrollable fits of anger. The professional staff in these facilities know the scientific ways of helping their patients understand their condition and help them overcome their anger by slowly changing their behavior or mindset about such an emotion.
5. Try the Federer cure
Roger Federer, the global tennis superstar, once gained notoriety, not for his superb skills at the courts, but for his unusual antics of smashing his tennis rackets when he gets upset while playing. What Federer can be called the Federer cure (for reference purposes): Federer reportedly watched video clips of him doing his racket-smashing antics while he was still a junior tennis player. Seeing how nasty he looked, Federer said that it was enough for him to totally drop the nasty habit and learned to control his anger on and off the court.
You can do the same thing even without having to videotape yourself during your fits of anger. Just look at the mirror and pretend that you’re angry at someone. You can then see how your body and face look like while you’re ‘getting angry’. Chances are, they both look hideous and unpleasant to look at. That must be one great motivation for you to learn to control your anger.
6. Maintain an anger journal
How often do you get angry? Once a week? Daily? Or every time someone pronounces your name incorrectly? You can’t possibly know if you won’t keep track of your anger episodes. Thus, consider maintaining an anger journal where you’ll write down details of every situation where anger got the better of you. You can look at your journal anytime you want and see for yourself how frequent or infrequent you get angry. If you see that your anger episodes are more than the times you’re in a great mood, then that should be enough reason for you to worry and act soon.
With these anger management tips, it should be easier for you to manage your emotions and, hopefully, learn to control your anger better.
