We can create inspirations from frustrations

We have all experienced frustration, especially when we encounter an obstacle or a setback that threatens to derail us on our journey.

However, I am learning that we can allow the frustrations of life to be the stones we use to build resilience, be catalysts for change and inspire us to push past our comfort zones and continue to our desired destinations.

It does not matter what we get up to, in life we will always encounter situations that are not to our liking. If, however, we choose to look at such situations with different lenses that allow us to look for opportunities in obstacles then we will be able to transform those situations into inspirations we can learn from and grow. 

Right perspective
I believe the first step to do this is maintaining the right perspective. I like how author Ryan Holiday puts it, “There is no good or bad within us, there is only perception. There is the event itself and the story we tell ourselves about what it means.” It follows, therefore, that to a certain extent, our perceptions determine what we are and are not capable of.

This in effect means when we encounter obstacles, instead of looking at them as something bad to run away from, we should instead put on our growth mind set and answer the question, ‘what can I learn from this situation?’

Keep in mind that perspective has two angles to it: the context, which is the sense of the larger picture of the world, and the frame within which we could be interpreting what has happened. 

Maintaining the right perspective is what I believe enables us to stay in the present moment instead of regretting and getting stuck in the past or creating a future we are not yet in. 

Instead, as we allow ourselves to look at the situation objectively and focus on the good there in and what we can control about it, we will be able to glean the lessons instead of focusing on the mistakes at hand.

In addition, taking time to reflect on the action and understanding why the result before us happened enables us to know what not to do in future and this makes us and our work better as we allow the insights, we get to move us to a better place than we were before.

It is imperative that we keep in mind that there are lessons that can only come to us through experience and yet out of some experiences come frustrations. If, however, we keep in mind that it is only when we effectively evaluate the experiences, we go through that we can then build the resilience needed to overcome the obstacles that we encounter on the road to success, I guarantee we will be willing to do the work of experimenting repeatedly.

One is, therefore, tempted to argue that as we embrace the frustrations we encounter on the journey to our desired destinations, we can adapt and look at them rationally. Doing this allows us to look at things from diverse angles and in a way makes the frustration lose the power it may have had on us. This in my view is what then enables us to transform the situation into a moment of learning and possibly create either a product or crave out a new path and unlock the doors we may have thought were holding us hostage. 

The next time we encounter what might look like a frustration, instead of allowing it to stop us in our trucks, let us instead ask how can I learn from this situation and turn it into an inspiration that can propel me forward instead of holding me back. 

Ms Rosette Wamambe is a transformational leadership coach with the Maxwell Certified Leadership Team    [email protected]