Anger Mastery

by Kevin B. Burk

Good morning. This is your wake-up call. Your life is a constant struggle. No matter how hard you work, things aren't improving. You're not happy. You haven't been happy for so long that you don't know what happy is anymore. And worst of all, you don't have enough energy to do anything about it, because other people are stealing it from you. This energy is more vital and more useful than gas or electricity: it's anger. When you learn how to master your anger, you can avoid ever being a victim again. Your anger can help you to get everything you want. Ultimately, your anger can help you to become truly happy. But first, you have to learn to master your anger. If you don't master your anger, it will master you, and you will continue to be victimized and manipulated. You will waste more energy, and feel less happy. In other words, your life will continue exactly as it is now. But it doesn't have to be that way. Follow the three-step Anger Mastery Process to: Take control of your life and stop being a victim. Reclaim your energy and use it to create the life you deserve. Protect yourself from the pain of loss by becoming truly Safe. Stop wasting your time on distractions and focus on what really matters to you. Become completely happy.

130 pages, Paperback

First published July 11, 2011

About the author

Kevin B. Burk is an internationally-acclaimed astrologer, author, relationship coach and spiritual counselor. He holds a Level IV certification in Astrological Counseling from NCGR, he is an MTI Certified Mediator of Workplace Conflict, and he is a graduate of the Holmes Institute Professional Practitoner Studies program.

Kevin has taught astrology, relationship and relationship astrology workshops in cities across the United States. He has been helping clients worldwide to improve every aspect of their lives since 1996.

Kevin launched his "Spiritual Training" practice in 2008 with the intention of creating a model that would provide practical support and training to enable his clients to experience meaningful and lasting improvements in the qualitity of their lives.

Kevin works with clients via telephone, and also sees clients in person in his totally awesome counseling space in La Mesa, California, just east of San Diego.

Reviews

[Ruth Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I read the introduction of this book, I was somehwat determined not to give it the most favorable review. After all, th author is an astrologist, and he does not appear to be a conservative. I was initially disappointed.

Well, all I can say is that it is a good thing that I decided to give this book a chance. While the first couple chapters of the book were difficult to grasp, I understood theoretically what the author was saying. And it was indeed life-changing. Especially as I persevered.

I can whole-heartedly tell you that while I have learned a lot of things in this book by trial and error over the past few years, the author takes a fresh approach to dealing with anger (thankfully without any weird astrological principles). The most lifeTchanging principle for me is that we tend to spend way too much time in "God's business" and "other's business|" and not enough time in "our business." I was so excited to get to try out this concept, and all I can say is that it does work!

I guess the author and I have a lot in common. When he wrote about his penchant for punctuality and trying to enforce the. rules, I saw my own foibles. I took to heart what the author recommended in these areas, and while I am sure I have not arrived, my mindset has changed. And that is where the battle begins.

I will warn you that there is some mild profanity in the book, but it is very minor and almost unnoticeable. I have not tried the meditation he talks about, and I am sorry, but I do not intend to. Meditation is something I stay away from. However, I do plan to remember the principles included in the meditation.

I absolutely love the fact that the author has a sense of humor. Most self-help books I have read are good but light on humor. The author writes in such a humorous style that I think most people.would find (like I did) themselves laughing out loud. Do not miss the footnotes!

In conclusion, this is a simple, short book that will definitely help anyone who wants to learn to master his/her anger. I have given it a 5-star rating due to the fact that what is contained within its easy-to-read pages works! ÷f you do not believe me, go check it out for yourself!

I was sent a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated in any way, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.

[Marcus Hooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

The humor really makes this feel less like self-help and more like comedy, which is a great feeling to hold while reading a book on mastering anger.

Might take multiple reads and time to process…

[Allizabeth Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review:

Everybody deals with anger in their own way - some try to take it out on inanimate objects, others hold it in until it explodes, and then there are the people who simply simmer in a boiling pot of anger year-round. These methods may work for some individuals, but in most cases anger is just beneath the surface, ready to erupt at the slightest provocation; I speak from experience. I approached Kevin B. Burk's Anger Mastery hoping for answers to my top three questions about anger: Why am I angry?, Why do I take my anger out on others?, and How can I tame/stop my anger?. My goal was to at least find some suitable methods to control my inner dragon, (attitudes, actions, and language), in order to change my overall mood; and I definitely found some worthwhile tips. However, parts of the book did not appeal to me, particularly the repetitive nature of the text and the sporadic comma/punctuation usage. Yes, misspellings and grammatical errors make me very angry, but the use of an editor would make me very, very happy. I also did not enjoy the first couple of chapters which included rants on the Rich, the Central Bank of the Federal Reserve and the Government. I may not like everything that these groups/organizations do, but that does not mean that everything they do is underhanded or unnecessary. On the other hand, I did like the set-up of Burk's self-help guide, the size wasn't overwhelming (120 pages), the diagrams were quite interesting, and the Phases (1-3) were doable for most individuals - not easy, but as the author infers, nothing remunerative ever is. The section on the F-word was one of my favorites, as was the chapter on victim consciousness - I appreciated the level of humor and the down-to-earth, (get your butt moving), tone. It is clear that the author knows what he is talking about, but I felt that the chapters could have held more actual anger-beating techniques than they did. I am surprised by Burk's background, but some of his experience as a astrological counselor really played into his Anger Mastery Phases. Overall, this book has some great tips on mastering anger and is recommended for adults seeking help with anger issues, or those who are curious about taming them.

Rating: Bounty's Out (3/5)

*** I received this book from the author (Pump Up Your Book) in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

[Michelle Kampmeier · Rating 3 out of 5]

See full review here!

I received a copy of this book from the author. Here is my honest review:

I'm not going to lie - I kind of hoped this book would be life-changing. I don't know why I expected that (and according to this book, I shouldn't expect unreasonable things like that), but I did want to find a good way to help manage my anger. I'm a generally angry person. I wish I wasn't, but I am. This book didn't enlighten me, but it did give me some helpful tips.

Kevin B. Burk spends a lot of time trying to be hilarious. It works sometimes, and it helps readers forget that they're reading a self-help book. He also reminds readers that they gave him money for this book. A lot. So if you're up for that while trying to stay not angry, good luck. Plus, a good chunk of this is the author repeating what others have said in other places. He uses other people's ideas to seemingly create his own idea. I guess that is the technique he uses to show that his process should work, but the idea of kingdoms of consciousness and his meditation work to feel 'safe' just do not work for me.

Okay.. this isn't a review of the process. This is just a review of the book. Maybe this will flip the switch for other people. I can take away a lot of good stuff from this book, but it's mostly about staying aware and choosing how to react instead of letting the anger get the best of you and turning into The Hulk. It's definitely a process and not an overnight change - on that, the author and I agree!

Where we might disagree is in the fact that this book needs some editing. I have a problem with always editing as I go, and the commas in this book are overwhelmingly unnecessary. The organization of the book makes sense for the most part, as it flows nicely from one idea to the next. It's just a little wordy. But it's funny as it tries to explain the whole concept of anger mastery. I just wasn't expecting all the new vocab and concepts.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I planned to read this short book quickly, but the content was so rich I took a slower approach. Burk writes this book as if he is teaching a workshop. Much of it is tongue in cheek with humorous footnotes throughout. In the beginning, the author spends some time getting you angry with political and social injustices. While this approach did not get me angry, I could relate to anger.

What I liked the most was the easy 3 step process to resolving anger. Burk's repurposing of Maslow, Katie and Hawkins made each more meaningful. The first line that really struck me was,"Respond using power rather than react using force." I chewed on that for days! Next, the chapter about the power of pain detailed how when you're in pain or fee unsafe you lose the ability to recognize what kind of pain you are in or whose business it is. This seems obvious, but how many times have you reacted from this emotional space and regretted it. One of the great tools that Burk provides are meditations. I loved the PresentMomentSafetyAwareness meditation. What a revolution!!

The discussion of the safety bank accounts really resonated with me. As I read the book, I uncovered more pearls that I will use. "The person who benefits from forgiveness is the person doing the forgiving." The segment on the difference between pain and suffering was also powerful for me.

The extra resources online were an added bonus for me.

I can't imagine this book not having something to offer everyone. I am better for having read it.

[Camille · Rating 2 out of 5]

I must admit that I didn’t think I was going to make it past Chapter 1 of this book. I began reading and became extremely bored. I am not an angry person and the author was spending a lot of time rambling about social injustices and how mad I should be with life. I didn’t feel mad, I felt annoyed. I thought that maybe there was something wrong with me, all of the ideas and suggestions that were written in this book were not actually making me mad.
I realized while reading that somehow I have begun to master my anger already. I had already started this process- so the book became more enjoyable as I continued to read and the topics became more relevant for me.
The Author is extremely humorous in his approach to writing. He tries to make it personal while keeping you entertained. The steps outlined in this book are easy-to-understand and yet difficult to put into real practice. The steps take time and energy to master.
Overall this book was entertaining and had really good information.

[Mindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is funny… very funny, but it’s also serious when it needs to be. I was a little leery when I saw all the Zodiac books since I’m SO not into that, but this book is written in layman’s terms with lots of commons sense, enough humor to keep you reading, really good points, and specific, hands-on, right now tasks to work through.

This is not a quick fix, or read the book and absorb what you need by osmosis. You have to put in the work. So far, I like what I’ve done… Okay I don’t really like the exercise, but let’s face it… I should have been doing this all along.

I give this book 4 out of 5 clouds and strongly recommend reading it.

This product or book may have been distributed for review; this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I requested to review this book in anticipation of being able to help some of my more "aggressive" friends/family with their emotions. There were quite a few new ideas that I learned, one of which was harnessing and direction of anger instead of bottling it up. This is a very useful, but hard to "enforce", idea that could potentially change the world, in MY opinion. While I enjoyed the down-to-Earth attitude of the author, I found some of the book a bit redundant, having had those thoughts presented to be previously. Overall it is a great tool for those that are really willing to try and help themselves or others.

[Sarah]

This book annoyed me. I went into it with high-ish hopes that I could learn something from it. I would love to learn how to have more power, or at least feel like I have more power, and happier. What I got was an anti-rich, anti-governement rant that told me to exercise.

There were a few interesting points about victim consciousness and how moods have varying power levels. But there wasn't anything instructional about these sections.

The book seemed like it was meant to be humorous, but it fell flat time after time. It just wasn't funny.