Turn Your Frustration Into Productivity

How you can tap into the power of your emotions to achieve greatness

Remember those times when you were a kid and you tripped and fell bursting into tears but quickly started smiling at the sight of a sweet treat or a toy? Your emotions quickly shifted from being sad to being happy.

As adults, our emotions can quickly change too. We also redirect and channel our emotions, either consciously or unconsciously.

The power of your emotions

Our emotions have superpowers. As humans, we can experience fear, rage, anxiety, ecstasy, and jealousy. Our emotional state can give rise to our creativity. We can also tap into them to take action and achieve the desired effect.

Have you ever wondered how the best works of art come to life? It’s not just people who created them — it’s their emotions. One of the greatest painters, for example, Pablo Picasso, painted his best works of art while he was in a severe state of depression. Songwriters produce their best music when they are at the height of their emotions. Masterpieces created by human beings prove that our feelings spur us into greatness.

Our feelings give us the power to produce great art and come up with new inventions. People like athletes and protesters take advantage of them to propel their actions. It all comes down to what we do when we feel a certain way.

Take control of your emotions

When you assume control of your emotions, it means that you can not only change your perception of how you feel but also use it to your advantage to achieve the desired outcome.

Let’s say you are angry and frustrated over something.

You can turn all that anger that’s within you into productivity. In psychology, it is called sublimation. You can be mad or sad and turn your emotions into productive work.

From here it appears that if you catch yourself in the right moment while you’re at the peak of your emotions and act on them right away, you may achieve great results.

Sublimation is a direct response

Unlike other human defense mechanisms that shield us from stress, sublimation is not unconscious and is more direct, which enables you to take your feelings of frustrations and channel them into productivity.

Think of people who go on riots and protests — their actions are an outcome of their emotions. They are angry and upset about social order, and they want to do something about it. What do they do? They act and march in protest. Or think of public speakers who take all their energy and speak up for a change.

Your state of awareness

When you feel negative emotion, analyze how you feel. Are you angry? Are you frustrated? Or maybe you’re jealous that other people are ahead of the game? Once you become self-aware of your emotional state, you can rewire that energy by engaging in productive work.

You can say to yourself: “Yes I am upset about the situation, but I won’t whine about it. I’ll take action and make a change.” Are you upset that you got rejected by a publication? Maybe you can work harder and do more research next time. Did you get a bad grade for your exam in school? Get to work and study harder for your next exam. Are you angry about how politics run in your state? Perhaps you can step in and make a change. Do something. Take action while the moment is right.

For me, this strategy always works. If I’m angry or upset about something, it makes me unhappy. While I’m unhappy, I can take all the energy from within and take action. For example, if I’m frustrated with myself for not achieving the desired results, I’ll work harder at something next time. I find it works best when I’m in the heat of the moment.

Bottom line: If you need a change in life, take advantage of the moments when you feel frustrated the most. Practice rewiring your energy into productivity.

Final thoughts

It’s important to realize that you can’t always be happy and satisfied with everything in life. We need to feel unhappy sometimes to push us into action and succeed in life. While we can’t control our emotions, we can control the direction in which they take us and produce the desired outcome.

Our emotions are our power tools to achieve greatness in life. If we take the right actions at the right moment, we can succeed. You just need to learn how to tap into them and channel the energy into productive work.