How do you handle frustration? How do you maintain a good attitude when circumstances aren’t what you want?

Here’s some advice:

Handle your “20 feet.”  

This is our statement that we use to remind teammates that when things are most in flux, you should focus your attention on the area closest to you that you can have the most impact. Don’t focus on other departments or plants. Clean up around you.  Stay safe.  Do your job.  Take care of your 20 feet.  Maybe that will inspire those around you to do the same.

Remember you can control your actions and reactions.  

No one makes you do anything.  How you react and what you do in response to situations is a choice. You can control what you say and what you do.  You can minimize regrets by pausing and considering the steps you take when the pressure is on.

Make the problem the boss.   

Stressful situations often cause us to find someone to blame or fight.  Where you can, depersonalize the stress.  Search for the problem and frame it in a way that you can attack it rather than people.  Stating the problem and making it the focus of attention removes the emotion.  It leads to progress.

Embrace change.   

If you think about it, much stress comes from things changing.  Our world changes at increasing rates.  There is hardly anything stable.  You can hate change.  Resist change.  And try to wish it away. But it’s going to still be there.  You can be passive with change.  You’ve got to lean into it and “happen to the world.”

Stay positive and do the work.  

So, positivity is the lubricant to effective efforts and work. You can be sure that negativity will belabor hard circumstances and delay progress.  So, time to put aside fear and resentment.  Figure out where you will go.  Start in that direction.