By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy

Here’s an idea that will inspire you in frustrating situations.

Have you ever been so frustrated that you found yourself pulling out clumps of your own hair? I have. And I have found great comfort in more ways than you think.

I flick those hairs onto a white tissue and I notice perhaps for the first time ever just how thin each strand of your hair is.

And then it hits me. For some reason, I think of a cool piece of trivia that I ran across recently about a single human hair and I found myself laughing at the thought, laughing at my frustration, laughing that I even got frustrated in the first place.

Here’s my Folicle Find:

1. Each of the 639 muscles in your body is comprised of tiny muscle fibers that are thinner than a human hair.
2. Yet those thin muscle fibers-thinner than a human hair-can support 1,000 times its own weight.

“What lies behind you and what lies
in front of you pales in comparison
to what lies inside you.”

Just thinking of all that strength I have inside me gives me renewed appreciation for the strength that all leaders have to call upon especially in challenging and frustrating situations. It encourages me to have greater conviction, to look deep into myself for added strength, to leverage my understanding of exactly what author Ralph Waldo Emerson meant when he said: “What lies behind you and what lies in front of you pales in comparison to what lies inside you.”

I thought of Emerson’s insight into the strength of the human spirit one day just after I had habitually yanked another clump of my hair in frustration. Then I laughed and threw the clump of hair into the air like so much confetti. Now whenever I get frustrated and feeling like giving myself a bad hair cut, I pinch a muscle in my arm, knowing I have the strength deep inside to help me overcome my frustration and solve the immediate problem at hand.

How do you cope with frustration? I look forward to reading your comments. Use the Comments section below.

Today’s ImproveMINT
Focus on your inner strength to keep your leadership thinking in mint condition.

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