Notes on: How To Turn Frustration and Stress Into Fulfillment and Achievement

These notes are taken from the article 'How Emotionally Intelligent People Turn Frustration and Stress Into Fulfillment and Achievement' an article by Jeff Haden and was originally published on inc.com.

Cognitive Reframing

Cognitive reframing, that is viewing a situation or problem from a different perspective, can help eliminate unnecessary frustrations.

For example, if someone is late, this might frustrate you, but does it really matter? Perhaps you can use that time to do something else, and even if not, is it the end of the world?

Sometimes it helps to take a step back and revisit the situation and try to see it from a different perspective all together. This helps you find alternate truths to the facts.

Science agrees, reframing is one of therapy's most effective tools. One study found that viewing a situation differently can significantly lower feelings of fear. Another study found that reframing can actually improve pain tolerance and reduce the intensity. Another study found that reframing can lower feelings of stress and anxiety by a significant factor.

Reduce Your Frustration

By shifting your perspective on a frustrating situation you get your emotions to work for you, not against you. Here are a few basic questions you can ask yourself when you are feeling frustrated:

• Is this problem really that serious, or am I overreacting?

• Is there a different perspective that would give me a different feeling about the situation?

• Is there a better way for me to handle this situation so I can channel my emotional energy to be more productive?

Focus on what it is you need to do to reduce the feeling of frustration so that you can think and act clearer. This could mean forgiving someone, picking up some slack, or looking past someone's odd behaviour.

Reduce Your Anxiety

If you want to feel more confident and less stressed in life, then perhaps you need to view the world differently.

A good example, when we have to do some sort of performance, perhaps a speech or a presentation at work, instead of getting worked up and stressed, you can reframe things by focusing on the audience being on your side and wanting you to be successful, not fail. This helps focus more on the positive experience versus make it a negative one.

Fear makes you view people as enemies, but if you realize we are all in this together then your success can be others success as well.

Sometimes a frustrating problem can turn out to be a solution when we choose to see things from a different perspective.