Frustration can be a tool

We’re taught since we’re very young that feelings such as frustration or sadness are bad and that we should eliminate them as soon as possible, because our goal in life should be to constantly be happy and full of energy.

While I agree with what I said above, that’s only partially. Yes, it does feel good to be happy and full of energy. However, when those are the only things you feel, when you have nothing to worry about and when you have nothing to work towards, then your motivation can quickly drop depending on what type of life you live.

Frustration, while an annoying and unpleasant feeling, can do quite the opposite — motivate you towards working more.

You see, the most annoying thing about feeling frustrated is the confusion behind it. If you’re frustrated because you don’t have money, you’re also confused because you don’t know how to make more money. If you’re frustrated because you’re not loved, you’re also confused because you don’t know how to get someone to love you. If you’re frustrated because you have nothing tasty to eat, you may also be confused because you don’t know what food to make.

If we wouldn’t feel confused when being frustrated, we would only be faced with an unpleasant feeling that appears when we don’t have something we really want, and that means we can use that feeling to motivate ourselves to get that thing.

There is a thin line between frustration and anger, and if there’s anything I remember from a show I watched a while ago called “American Gods”, is one line that, as bad and as evil as it may sound, is quite true: “Angry gets shit done”.

Using your frustration to get yourself angry, just enough to do the things you have to do out of desperation and desire to achieve what you want is a pretty good strategy. Suddenly, that anger will make you forget about being tired, about being bored, about wanting to waste your entire day playing games, and you’ll instead work.

Frustration can be good. Almost any feeling, if analyzed properly, can lead to something good. It’s up to us to control it and direct it towards a productive outcome, instead of simply sitting on a couch feeling bad about everything and waiting for the “bad” feeling to pass.