Updated: June 17, 2021
We all have to deal with frustration every once in a while in our lives. Even at a young age, we may already have experienced our own bouts of frustration.
I remember as a kid, I would often get frustrated whenever I play Super Mario. Even if I had infinite lives, it’s still irritating to die repeatedly and not advance to the next world level.
Of course, school has its own way of serving us our usual dose of frustrating events. Countless nights of study and long hours spent on a project, only to fail or get below-average marks. It can be quite discouraging.
But looking at the bright side, I believe that all those years of dealing with frustration gave me strength and the proper perspective to overcome my weaknesses.
It has invaluably prepared me to conquer more challenging disappointments in the future such as feeling stuck and defeated in my work, my relationships, and most especially in my finances.
How I deal with life’s frustrations
The first and immediate thing I do is to stop and take my mind off the things that frustrate me. I conserve whatever energy is left in me and use it to recharge myself.
Simply, I do what my favorite poem tells me, “Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.”
I shut down everything temporarily and go inside my “sanctuary” – armed with music and comfort food, I drive around the city without a destination.
Yes, this routine has been very therapeutic for me for the past years. I would spend a couple of hours without worries inside my car and let all my troubles settle at the back of my mind.
Other than driving, I’ve also managed to come up with other things to do whenever I’m feeling depressed and frustrated.
Some of which are spending time and talking with friends, writing my frustrations down, and then burning the paper (I know, how dramatic), and sometimes, I simply go out for a jog inside our village.
I guess the key here is to release the frustrations in a non-aggressive way.
Release the frustrations. Come back with clarity.
Of course, your problems won’t get solved by simply doing that. It will still be in the same state when you come back from taking a break.
However, what I hope to be different is my enthusiasm to tackle the difficulties once again. Moreover, with revitalized energy, I am now more capable to think and act towards succeeding this time.
Upon my return, I take stock of everything at hand and systematically analyze the situation by asking myself:
- What have I learned so far?
- What do I think is the real reason that’s causing me to fail?
- How do I remedy and prevent mistakes this time?
- Is there another way to accomplish my goal?
Furthermore, I always keep in mind that frustration may lead to aggression and procrastination. Remembering so helps me act consciously without negativity and delay.
When your goals seem to be so near yet so far, take positivity from the small accomplishments you’ve already attained and learn to also reward your efforts, not just your results.
In the end, when you finally achieve your goals, you’ll find yourself stronger in character and more ready to face greater challenges.
Dealing with your finances can be frustrating at times, especially when you’ve been working so hard to save and invest, and then a financial emergency would come and ruin your plans.
How about in your case? What have been your frustrations lately and how are you dealing with them? Kindly share them below and let’s have a conversation.
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Photo credit: dmangust
When it comes to frustration I always pray and ask Lord to lead me to the right path of life.
Happy Blogging Fitz
Yes, spending some time inside St. Jerome Church near Alabang Town Center has likewise helped me regain some energy and strength to overcome some of life’s frustrations. Thanks for sharing Dex.
beautiful entry fitz. never thought about this topic before. anyhow what i do is I don’t just pray, I act and try again. I don’t expect too much since it aggravates the frustration later. I try to relax and unwind…
Thanks bluep. This entry was inspired by some personal frustrations that I’ve been dealing with lately. The things I advised here really helped me go through those difficulties and I thought of sharing it here so that I could also help others who are struggling with life’s challenges. 🙂
I always stare at the skies when I’m frustrated.
“frustration may lead to aggression and procrastination. ”
in my opinion procrastination is a devil all on its own .
[…] can be overwhelming, even frustrating and exhausting. And it’s not always easy to follow our dreams without thinking about its financial […]
hello fitz. just want to ask for your advice.
for two years now i’m holding the financial analyst position in our company in a detail basis.
my boss said to me that they will open the position last December, 2008, but they didnt, then January, May & now but to no avail. Until now the position is still not open, i still in a detail basis.
Frustration are sinking in on me, i dont know how to handle this situation, if i just quit and go back to my previous work or just stay here and wait until they will open the position.
tnx.
Hi Marwin,
Are you holding on to your job just because you’re waiting for that position to open up? If yes, then I suggest that you already make concrete plans on leaving the company and going back to your previous work OR finding a new and better job.
However, don’t immediately leave. Once your “plan” is set, talk to your boss and give him/her a deadline. Have the courage to ask for what you want – which means either they open up that position for you by “next month” or you’re filing your resignation.
What’s the worst thing that could happen if you do this? You’ll lose your job – which is not a bad thing if you already have that “backup plan”.
I wish you all the best and hope that everything works out fine in the end.
i’m really frustrated with a guy… he used to be my crush in high school. when i’m with him, i really don’t show to him my feelngs, it’s like just i’m acting normal. But when i’m with my friends, i used to talked nothing but him… He thought i was just playing with him,, that’s why he’s not making any “moves” right now… I don’t know what to do now.. he’s always in my mind… pls help me…
by the way, I’m now 17 yrs old,, a college student.. tnx!!
[…] Things To Do When Dealing With Frustration […]
hi friends,
i am practicing eye surgeon and i get very much frustrated when something happen in surgery which is unusual and it is always difficult to cop with it.
it is because sometime it is irreversible and pt will come in your department frequently.
after attending such a pt – you will loss all your enthusiasm for whole day or sometime for whole week.
i can not find solution for such frustration – i tried a lot thing to get rid from this like – drive away from home, watch interesting Movie or call to friends and also write it down.
i think all these type of frustration will not allowed you to relax at any moments.
surgical complication is bound to happen with every surgeon and this is hard things to digest for both side at patient side as well as surgeons site.
what are the general effects of frustrations in our lives?
[…] Step by Step Guide To Starting A Business, two new Allies of Financial Freedom were included and Frustration became a part of the ‘enemy […]
@EJ
focus on your studies instead 😀
@Abhijeet
maybe consulting a psych can help sort things out for you
@louwila
frustration can be paralyzing, so you have to learn how to manage it
For me, my wife gives me frustration when she said, “Let’s wait and believe that the time will come and we will achieve our goal. But in no specific day, year nor plan. I always said that we don’t need to wait we have to move. But when i said this to her she doesn’t understand it at all? What am i supposed to do? 🙁
@Rujic
My suggestion is to make a plan and present it to her. If she resists, then ask her to explain to you how she is expecting your goals to come true, step by step. Hopefully, she’ll realize that there is a need for you to act and not just wait around for things to happen the way you want it because it will never happen.
[…] can be overwhelming, even frustrating and exhausting. And it’s not always easy to follow our dreams without thinking about its financial […]
Honestly, with my beautiful bride beside me and looking back at all that we have overcome together in a short period of time, I almost feel invincible. Then a major frustration comes back and repeats. No matter how much effort, no matter what we do, a number of folks we have tried to help lift themselves out of the hole, continue to repeat the same mistakes over and over. You may outline and explain why there is failure after failure. You can demonstrate and talk about why things go wrong over and over for them. There is simply no changing their poverty mindset. It is hard to ignore people you care about but we actually dread the next text message whining about what happened and asking for help. The worst part being that the new “problem” could easily have been avoided. I agree Fitz, there are times you just have to crawl into you man-cave or happy place and reset your mind