Blog · 2026-10-12

Can Anger Actually Help You Reach Hard Goals?

Travis Hill, LPC-MHSP · Navigate Life Counseling · Franklin, TN

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Last updated: October 2026

Short answer: Sometimes, yes. A 2024 Texas A&M study found that people who felt angry solved about 39% more hard word puzzles and did better on a hard video game course. But the boost showed up only on hard tasks, in a lab, in the short term. Anger can fuel effort. It is not permission to blow up at people.

I'm Travis Hill. People around Franklin know me as "THE Anger Management Guy." So you might be surprised that I'm writing a post about how anger can help you.

But this fits what I've taught for years. Anger is not the enemy. Anger has a purpose. The problem is never that you feel angry. The problem is what you do with it.

A new post on X brought this study back into the spotlight. On October 12, 2026, Dr. Brandon Luu shared it with the line that being angry helped people "solve 39% more puzzles." That number is real. But the full story is more interesting, and more careful, than one line can hold. Let me walk you through it.

What did the study actually do?

The paper is called "Anger Has Benefits for Attaining Goals." It was led by Dr. Heather Lench at Texas A&M University. It came out online in October 2023 and in print in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in April 2024.

The team ran a series of studies. The experiments included more than 1,000 people, and they also looked at survey answers from more than 1,400 voters. In most of the experiments, college students looked at pictures meant to stir up a feeling. Some were made to feel angry. Others felt amused, sad, a sense of wanting, or nothing much at all. Then everyone took on a task.

Here's what they found:

Hard word puzzles. In the first study, 233 students tried to unscramble tough words. The angry group solved about 39% more than the neutral group. They also stuck with the puzzles longer. On an easy set of puzzles later, there was no difference.
A skiing video game. In another study, 288 students played two games. One was a hard slalom course where you dodge flags. The other was a simple ski jump. The angry group did better on the hard course, but not on the easy jump.
Voting. People who said they'd be angry if their candidate lost in 2016 or 2020 were more likely to actually go vote. Anger didn't change who they voted for. It changed whether they showed up.
Protecting money. Anger led people to take more steps to protect themselves from losing money. This was true even compared to a group that was just physically revved up. So it wasn't only about having a faster heart rate.

What did the tweet leave out?

Three things stood out to me when I read the full paper.

First, anger also raised cheating. In one study, students could win prizes by reporting how well they did. The angry group was more likely to lie about their scores. Anger pushes you toward your goal. It doesn't check whether the path is honest. That's a big deal, and it's why aim matters.

Second, anger wasn't the only helpful feeling. The researchers noted that amusement or desire sometimes helped people reach goals too.

Third, these were short lab tasks. Most people in the study were college students. The feelings were stirred up with pictures, and the tasks lasted minutes. The study did not look at marriages, jobs, parenting, health, or anger that lasts for months. It also didn't measure how anger affects the people around you.

So the honest takeaway is this: a short burst of anger can give you energy to push through a hard, blocked goal. That's it. It's useful, but it's narrow.

Wait, didn't you just say to calm your body down?

Yes. In my last post, "Does Blowing Off Steam Help Anger — Or Does Calming the Body Work Better?", I shared a large 2024 review by Sophie Kjærvik and Brad Bushman. It looked at 154 studies. It found that calming the body, through slow breathing, muscle relaxation, mindfulness, or a time-out, lowered anger. Venting did not help.

So how do both things fit together? Here's how I see it.

When the problem is a person, calm comes first. Arguments with your spouse, a coworker, or your teenager go badly when your body is in fight mode. Your thinking narrows. You say things you can't take back. In those moments, bringing your body down is the skill.

When the problem is a task, channeled anger can help. A stuck project. A goal that keeps getting blocked. A hard workout. A bill you've been dodging. Here, anger's energy can help you lean in instead of giving up.

Even then, notice one detail. The study found that it wasn't just being "revved up" that helped. It was anger aimed at a goal. Venting at a pillow, yelling, or punching something is not aiming. It just burns the fuel.

So what is anger for?

I wrote about this in "The Purpose of Anger." Anger shows up when something is blocking a goal, a need, or a value you care about. It's information: something here matters to me, and something is in the way. It's also energy: your body gearing up to do something about it.

That's why I don't teach people to stuff anger down. Stuffing it doesn't make it go away. And I don't teach people to explode, either. Both of those miss the point.

The skill is to aim it.

How do you aim anger instead of exploding or stuffing it?

Here's a simple approach I use in mindfulness-based CBT with clients:

Notice it. Name it in your head: "I'm angry." Notice where you feel it: jaw, chest, hands.
Read the message. Ask, "What goal or value is being blocked right now?"
Check the target. Is the block a task or a person? If it's a person, calm your body first. Take a few slow breaths, or step away for a bit.
Pick an honest action. If it's a task, point the energy at the next small step. Make the call. Write the first page. Do one more set. Remember the cheating finding, and keep the action honest.
Let it settle. When the task is done, let the anger go. Fuel is for the trip, not for carrying around all day.

My book Navigate Anger walks through this kind of work in more detail, including how to catch the thoughts that turn useful anger into harmful anger.

What this means if you're in Franklin or Williamson County

Many of the adults I see in Franklin, Cool Springs, and across Williamson County feel ashamed of their anger. Some have been told for years that anger is bad, period. Others have seen it do real damage.

I want you to hear this clearly: feeling angry doesn't make you a bad person. The goal is not zero anger. The goal is anger that serves your values instead of wrecking them. Research like this helps make that case. It also reminds us that anger without direction can push people toward shortcuts, even dishonest ones.

If you'd like help learning to read your anger and aim it well, I offer individual counseling for adults. You can learn more on my anger management page.

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