Overcoming Frustration
It would be nice to go through life without ever feeling the power of frustration. It would be grand if every traffic light stayed green until you went through it, no person ever pulled in front of you on the freeway, you got the credit you deserve, the hairline you want, and the salary you've always dreamed of.
For most of us, though, a quest for hopes, dreams and desires sometimes leads to frustration.
It's inevitable to find frustrating times in your life. The key lies in what you do with that frustration. Frustration can be either a great paralyzing influence or a great motivating force in your life. It can stop you or start you. It can divert you, or lead you. It's all up to you.
Most great ideas start as a remedy
for a need, often generated by frustration. Organization techniques are built
to deal with the frustration of not having enough time; communication techniques
are learned (even by men) to deal with the frustration of communicating with
ones spouse. Post-it notes deal with the frustration of messy desks (don't look
at mine).
Frustration can be the impetus to a better life, if we view it as such.
Are you frustrated with something? Stop, pull back a bit, and analyze how you could fix the problem. Ask yourself if this is a frustration common to other people. Look to see if there's a product there, waiting for someone to market it. Frustrated of staying on hold too long? Look at the hold times at your own company. Use your experience as a motivating force for positive change. Frustrated that your dry cleaner didn't get that spot out? Get some venture capital, and fund a better dry cleaner. Oil change taking too long? Find an oil change company that does a better job (my local Jiffy Lube does it in seven minutes); better yet, buy a franchise, and push to improve the quality of service. Help alleviate the frustrations of others, and they'll pay money for it.
Many people have written about the need of people to live a pain-free life. We prefer to find those things that cause us no pain or problems at all. That utopia is a pipe dream, though. Without frustrations and problems, there's no longer a need for solutions, or solution providers such as you and I.
Frustration can be a powerful motivator, if you only ask "how can I learn from this."
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