Ants Don’t Get Frustrated - Grasshopper

Have you ever see an ant hill? Ants dig into the ground and build mounds around their underground nests with the excavated dirt. These mounds show us where the ants live.

You may have crushed your fair share of ant hills under your feet or you may have squirted a hose to destroy their mounds.

Notice, the ants don’t fret even though they may be all wet and their living arrangements have been upset. They rebuild.

My dictionary defines frustration as “the feeling of being upset or annoyed, especially because of an inability to change or achieve something.”

I don’t think we’ll ever outgrow getting frustrated, but we can limit frustration’s visit. The first step in abbreviating its stay is to notice that if we allow it to continue, it gets in the way and keeps our goal at bay.

After we notice that frustration won’t get us what we desire, it’s time to restart the fire.

Back to square one is more productive than pulling your hair out in frustration. As a management consultant told me years ago, “Shorten the storm.”

The more temporary your frustrated state, the more time you’ll have to create. If you stay in a frustrated thought loop, you’ll witness your productivity droop.

Staying frustrated keeps the accent on “I can’t.” So, take a lesson from the ant: Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill.

All the best,