I’m sitting in the Richmond Airport as I write this. It’s a small airport, but it might be an international one, which often means they fly to Canada and Mexico.

anger

They are playing Chicago over the loud speakers. Usually, I like Chicago. Who doesn’t like Peter Cetera? That dude crushed the theme song for Karate Kid 2. I am the man who fight for your honor!

Today though, I don’t.

I almost jumped on an early flight home. I could have been home at 5pm instead of 9pm.

As a dad, that’s a big difference because it means I get to see my kids.

Why did I miss the flight?

Because I booked the later flight.

I was lazy when I picked the flight and didn’t realize I could get on the early one so I didn’t make the standby cut. So, I am sitting in the airport frustrated.

When we’re mad, it’s easy to take it out on other people. It’s not my fault. It was Delta. It was the gate attendant. It was the traffic on the way here. We have a thousand targets for our anger.

But here’s the thing, when you get angry you have two options:

1. Blame someone.
2. Fix something.

[Tweet “Anger offers you two options: 1. Blame someone. 2. Fix something. Choose 2. “]

Blame is easier and to be honest at first it feels better. It doesn’t cost you anything. You don’t have to change. You don’t have to do anything but point your finger.

The second option is harder, but infinitely better. In the second option you roll up your sleeves. In the second option you funnel all that frustration, all that anger, all that angst toward a solution.

In my, very tiny personal example, I decided to fix my next flight. I decided to make sure that I picked the earliest flights home. Instead of casually picking one, I’m going to become a machine of efficiency that carefully checks each detail.

What’s funny about that approach is that fixing something makes you feel better. That burst of anger leads to a burst of hope. Blaming others feels gross eventually, fixing just feels better and better the more you do it.

Get mad.

Get angry.

Get frustrated.

But when you do, use it to fix something, not blame someone.

P.S. If you’re an entrepreneur or want to be one, you need to do this ASAP.