About the Kettle anger journal

Anger has been part of my life for as long as I can remember

When I was growing up, adults often called me “intense,” and I cycled through a medley of child psychologists. In middle school I became “anger management Andrew” after I lost it on a group of popular kids during a presentation.

Years later, therapy changed how I saw my anger. I stopped treating it as a bad thing and started learning to see it as a warning sign. Anger was the tip of the iceberg, and when I was struggling, I learned that I needed to look at what was underneath.

Knowing that didn’t fix my reactions, though. I still struggled to stay in control when I got angry, and to express myself in a healthy way.

What it cost me

After I sold my first company, I went to work for the company that bought us. My anger hurt my relationships with my new team and is part of why I eventually got fired. When I went back out on my own, I thought things would be easier. Until I lost one of my most profitable clients after battling with their CTO.

It wasn’t only work. Anger has been a constant challenge in my relationships with partners. The last straw was a birthday trip with my current partner that ended in a huge fight.

How Kettle started

After that trip I decided to treat my anger the way people treat an addiction: something you have to manage every single day. That includes the days when life is good.

I went to my therapist, and he laid out five questions and a daily journal practice. That practice became Kettle. I built it to help me keep up with my practice, and to help anyone else who struggles the way I have.

You don’t have to be violent for anger to be a problem

I’ve never been violent or intentionally cruel. Most people who know me think of me as a chill, happy person and will never see me lose my temper. That doesn’t mean my anger isn’t a real problem.

I know the feeling of heat building inside of you, and how it feels to finally let it out. I know that being angry can feel good sometimes. And I know how awful it feels when you say something you regret or treat someone badly, and the guilt, shame and frustration with yourself that come after.

Being angry is normal. Anger is a healthy emotion. Shouting, yelling and reacting without control aren’t. Kettle is about finding some peace and understanding, and building the tools to manage your reactions, so anger doesn’t control you.

What Kettle is

Kettle is a daily anger journal. Once a day it asks five questions about what frustrated you, and it takes about three minutes. How it works walks through each question. Over time your answers build into a picture of your own patterns, and you begin to build the skill to recognize what’s happening in the moment, not just in retrospect.

The name comes from the idea behind it: anger is the steam, and the journal is a way to find the heat underneath, and to recognize when it is building.

What Kettle isn’t

Kettle isn’t therapy, and it can’t diagnose or treat anything.
It doesn’t use AI. Nothing reads or analyses what you write.
It doesn’t collect your data. There’s no account, and your journal stays on your phone. The privacy policy has the detail.

I’m not a clinician. If anger is hurting you or the people around you, it’s worth talking to a professional, and the Get help page lists where to start.

How Kettle is funded

I’d like Kettle to become a business, so I can put more time into it and help more people. And because building businesses is what I do. But making money isn’t the primary goal.

The journal is free for good. Kettle Plus adds a few extras for a yearly price you choose, and if you can’t pay right now you can have it for nothing. Pricing explains how that works.

The guides and worksheets

This site also has free guides to understanding anger and printable worksheets. I’m not a professional, so they link to the research behind what they say. Here’s how I research them.

Get in touch

If you have any questions, feedback, or just need someone to talk to, email me at support@kettlejournal.com. I read every message.

If you need help right now, the Get help page lists crisis lines.