ALTURA 14

One of the hardest things for me to fight has been frustration with myself. I have been in a new position for a couple of months now and there are a lot of things that I’m still not satisfied with my performance. I once heard that “satisfaction is the biggest barrier to development” and I totally agree. To not be satisfied with one’s own performance to a certain level is positive to keep working on improvements, it also means that you have a high goal and standard that you want to reach, that you are playing with the big boys (that sounds weird in my mind, but I thought was kind of funny, so I’ll keep it), the problem though is when frustration becomes part of your daily routine. I got to the point where more than 90% of my daily tasks were a burden for me and I felt that I couldn’t develop them in the way that I pictured and desired, I also felt a huge pressure thinking of what other people would think of me, because I felt that I didn’t have enough to offer.
Frustration can mess up with your life. If you don’t learn how to deal with it there is a good possibility that you will get into depression and anxiety soon, if are not already there.
I reinforce, if you are experiencing frustration it is most likely that your motives are good, it means that you are an achiever, you want to go for more, you want to go higher, however that is a problem with the HOW. Reality is that we don’t take time enough to work on how. We set the goals, we make sure that they are S.M.A.R.T. (check what that means here https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/smart-goals.htm) And we think that is going to play by it self, but it is not what happens.

First thing to do in this circumstance is to assess your thoughts and feelings. Your worldview filters what you perceive, so I have a couple things that I would like to encourage you to think through:

1. Recognize God’s sovereignty
   • God is the one that holds the universe. I’m sorry to kind of give you the bad news, but you are just a small piece of the engine. God is the one that has everything under control, even your sins and flaws. There is nothing that you can do to mess up with God’s plans. A message that wasn’t perfectly developed as you thought it should, a deadline that you couldn’t meet, a person that you was expecting a call from you, nothing that you do or don’t do can mess up with God’s plan, you are not that important LOL.
     Jesus has an interesting thought about that, check it out:
     “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?”
     ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:27‬ ‭ESV‬‬
     The NESV (New Eduardo’s Standard Version) would say this way:
     Chill bro, there are many things that you have no control over, when you have no control, trust who does.
2. Take a frustration as an opportunity to learn
   I know this is cliché, but it is true.
   • Thomas Edison got us with this one:
     “I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.”
     Holy cow, this is good stuff. Think about this concept, that every time that you actually make a wrong move, you are closer to make the right one! That is amazing and I hope your job and boss allow you to make mistakes. There is no growth without making mistakes.
     If you are able to keep your job LOL, set a time in your schedule to reflect. Reflection is definitely recommended always, but specially after an event, make sure you evaluate and put things on paper so next time you do it, it will be better. Next time can always be better.
3. You can’t do everything
   A well-rounded leader is a myth. There is not such a thing like that. Besides that, you can’t do everything. There are things that you do good and there are things that you stink at. This is normal and acceptable, so maybe there is somebody else in your team that could take the task to a higher level, that may be a blessing for you so you are more free to focus in your stronger areas and it can be great to the person that you give the task so he can make it his own. I would encourage you to make a list of your top 5 priorities, that will help you to focus in the most important things. Make a list also of the things that you can’t do. I think I don’t have to tell you that saying no is harder than saying yes.
4. Give yourself some grace
   If there is one thing that is very uncommon in the christian world is lazy people. Usually our churches and organizations have a few leaders that are super busy doing tons of things. So you are probably doing too much and that is the reason why your performance is not as you pictured. Make a list of your recent accomplishments and rejoice on them. Celebrate your top accomplished tasks!
5. Have a long term perspective
   One thing that gives me hope is to look to the future. I know my performance is not where I would like it to be, but when I look 2 years from now, I know that I’ll have a good progress, so I just need to keep being faithful in a daily basis, always with a long term perspective. We remember Paul saying that he was all about the goal, moving forward. Keeping our focus in the future will give us hope during the journey.
6. You are not a final product
   You are under construction. God is working in you as you go, some subjects in your life will take longer than others. God has developed a specific curriculum to form you in a way that He wants to. He has a specific plan for you. Enjoy the ride, chill, put your arms up and scream. Life is organic, is not systematic.