Bogdan Knezevic (twitter: @bogdanknez)
Goal setting is a key element of success in life, and is
used to provide tangible, realistic guidelines to reaching our dreams, whatever
they may be. The fuel for this journey can be provided by any one (or
combination) of a multitude of things: determination to prove something,
conviction in one’s ideals and cause, or pure excitement and joy of the
activity itself. However, an often overlooked and misunderstood source of
motivation is anger.
At one point or another, we have all felt anger; anger at
ourselves, at the people around us, at the situation we were dealing with. In
sport, anger is a common emotion, and frequently boils out at the wrong place
or time. If, however, this anger is controlled and directed with purpose and
focus, it has the potential to bring out amazing performances that may surprise
you.
The true revelation of the simplicity of this idea dawned on
me the other day when I was doing some yard work at home. We had recently cut
down two trees that were rotting, and had decided to plant two new ones a
little farther from the house. Instead of paying the (rather steep) price of
$500 to have the holes for the trees dug out by the landscapers, my father and
I decided to use this opportunity to bond a little, as well as save a lot of
money.
The plan seemed simple enough: two holes, each 4.5 x 4.5
feet, with a depth of 28 inches. It was a fairly warm and sunny day, which
provided a pleasant working environment- not the kind of atmosphere one would
expect to breed anger. The predisposition for this emotion, however, was
visible if one knew where to look. It was a Sunday, the one day off in my week
of training- I had already been feeling rather sluggish and burnt out by the
time Saturday morning workout had finished. I had started off the day with a
soccer match with the men’s league I play in, and with half the team not
present at the game, I played both halves fully. I then arrived home and, after
a quick bite to eat, proceeded to dig the holes. Within half an hour a few
things became crystal clear: the blisters on my feet from soccer would now be
accompanied by blisters on my hands from digging, the pleasantly warm day
suddenly felt a lot hotter and stickier, and the holes were actually rather
large (which wasn’t quite apparent before the work commenced).
Within the hour, I was (likely unjustifiably) angry at the
world, at my father, at the trees and at the shovel, but one thing did not
change: the holes had to be completed that day since the trees were being
delivered the next. At this point it was obvious that there was no turning back
since the work absolutely had to be finished, and the moment I realized that, a
few key elements changed. The anger, which had been building inside and
impeding my work, suddenly served a purpose. Instead of venting out the energy
from the frustration building up inside, I poured it into the work I was doing,
using it to give me focus and purpose. I worked into a certain rhythm, and
developed a pattern of cohesion with my father who was employed alongside me.
Within a few hours, both holes were completed, and we were sipping sangria on
the porch.
Afterword, I would look back on the afternoon and reflect on
how such a potentially destructive emotion helped increase efficiency a
thousand fold; if it could work in the yard with such a mundane
task, it could surely work in the pool when bigger things are at stake. So next
time you have a bad race at a meet, or a teammate messes up in a play, or odds
are stacked against you, GET ANGRY! Don’t let your crappy race bring you down
and dampen your motivation- get angry at yourself for messing up something you
shouldn’t have messed up, and go back to work to fix it. Don’t let the fact
that your teammate is having a bad day ruin the game for you- get angry and
take the initiative to pick up the slack and turn things around. Don’t let
seemingly overwhelming odds drive you away from your goals- get angry at
yourself for even considering quitting and use that to drive yourself TOWARD
your goals. As long as it is wielded properly, anger can help provide you with
the little bit of energy needed to reach those ‘unattainable’ heights.
