We all deal with it. Either we are in a bad mood, and something doesn’t go our way and we become frustrated. Or we have a certain set of expectations, and they aren’t met so frustration follows.

It’s never a matter of if but a matter of when frustration will settle in. How long we let the frustration settle in and grow roots though is dependent on us and how we choose to respond.

I found myself recently in a little bit of that frustrating rut. Through taking time reflecting, I realized I was choosing to focus my attention on a situation that came nowhere near meeting my expectations, and not in a good way. I acknowledged I was spending too much time in this frustrated zone, yet I still was struggling to push myself through to channeling my energy away from the frustration to more positive progress. 

I needed to invest time in practicing mindfulness methods to persevere through the frustration. We all are unique in how we handle and work through frustrating times. Here are some ideas to consider trying when the stickiness of frustration won’t let us pull away:

1. Seek perspective: take time to step back and look beyond just the intensity of the moment and situation and get a broader view of what’s going on.
2. Leverage your board of directors: reach out to the people that will give you honest and insightful feedback for you to consider a different viewpoint of the situation.
3. Acknowledge life isn’t fair: unfortunately, we aren’t owed anything so the fact life isn’t fair shouldn’t come as a surprise. It doesn’t mean we can’t strive to act in a kind and fair way, but the reality is we can’t control others and how they choose to act.
4. Find your calming approach: some of us may gravitate towards working out, listening to music or a podcast, meditating, walking while taking in Mother Nature – whatever it takes to get your mind to a more relaxed state to more effectively gain perspective.
5. Reflection leads to action: after investing time reflecting and gaining perspective, it’s time to act. Situations we encounter will provide varying degrees of control. Identify where you can control next steps on how to either make the situation better or set yourself up better for the future.

Comment below on other approaches you take to persevere through frustrating moments that we can’t seem to shake off.

Take your step: we all know frustrating moments are right around the corner. The next time frustration sets in and there’s a struggle moving on from it, try one or two ideas above (or a couple of methods you’ve identified). The key is finding your authentic toolkit of how to persevere from frustration that lingers to move as soon as we can to channel our energy towards positive progress. It won’t be easy, and we may find different situations call for different tools in our toolkit but focus on trying these approaches early in the process to quickly move from stuck in frustration to perseverance mode.