How you react to feeling frustrated will influence your future well-being.
Frustration: Frustration is the feeling of being annoyed as a result of not being able to complete a task or achieve a goal.
I’ve used the word annoyed in the meaning. However, that can be interchanged with any of the following depending on the level of frustration.
Anger, depressed, bitterness, exasperated, disappointed, discouraged, dissatisfied, discontent, or just sitting there shaking your head in wonder.
Introspective or projective responses to frustration.
The reason your response to frustration determines your future is that if you internalize your response, your mental health will suffer, which will almost certainly lead to physical health problems down the road. (The deeply unhappy person who had a smile for everybody.)
If you project your frustration onto everybody you interact with, you can be sure your circle of friends and work colleagues will diminish. You may not be aware of the change in them at first until you notice they don’t come around anymore. (Shh, they’re coming is whispered.)
The moral of the story is that you need to have a balanced reaction to frustration, which leads to a balanced decision-making process.
How to develop a balanced reaction to frustration.
The first step is to acknowledge that you are the source of your frustration.
Your expectations of what you hope to achieve vs. all the people who you believe are blocking your path to what you deserve. They don’t exist. Nobody is trying to stifle your progress, and they’re trying to do what’s best for them in their current situation.
The second step is to determine if your goal is realistic. If you work in the mail room, there’s a good possibility they won’t consider your application for editor seriously.
The third step is to determine what you need to change about yourself to achieve your goal. Education, experience, or personality. A good way to achieve this is to check the background of other people who’ve already achieved the goal you’re trying to achieve. If you can’t find that information, ask them personally.
The fourth step is to determine what length of time you will give yourself to achieve your goal. This needs to be set in stone. There’s no point in procrastinating for years in the hope things will change. That’s what got you frustrated in the first place.
The fifth step is called the slide because you have to slide back to the first step and start all over again.
The last line is the most important line.
While you are the source of your frustration, that you is not just the person you are today, it’s everything you have brought with you since you were a small child, Which is a great place to start when you’re looking for answers to today’s frustration.
Sorry, it should go without saying. The answers to frustration may be found in your past. However, regretting your past is not the answer.
