Give yourself 5 minutes to be frustrated and then move the hell on

The next time something makes you frustrated, soak in it. Let yourself be frustrated for 5 minutes but then move on from it. That’s what I learned from the popular TV series ‘Lost.’

I’ve seen Lost roughly 0.8 times. I’ve started it twice and never finished it. Make of that what you will.

But I’m glad I did because on my second attempt I took something away from episode 1.

Alright, the scene in simple terms:

• Meet main character Doctor Jack.

• Meet his love interest Kate who asks how he deals with nerves when performing surgery.

• Jack talks about how he deals with fear.

• He gives himself 5 seconds to freak out and then he flicks that switch and does what is needed.

The thing I took from this was we all get scared, and nervous, and mad, and every other emotion out there.

The toughest person you know cries, the most confident person you know gets nervous.

It is perfectly fine to feel these things and in fact, I’ll put it in the ‘good for you’ basket.

Be nervous, be mad, be sad — but give yourself a certain time to do so and then flick that switch.

5 seconds is extreme but given Doctor Jack’s situation, that is fair enough.

I’m running with 5 minutes instead for everyday life challenges.

I always preach positivity and tell myself there’s no point in being frustrated by that bad traffic but reality is that it’s a pain in the ass.

But after that 5 minutes I’m back to positivity and trying to snap out of it. Well, in theory at least.

There’s simply no point in dwelling over something that has already happened.

Like, what benefits do we get from it?

Take 5 minutes. Don’t run from those emotions. Feel them. Move on.

Thanks Jack from Lost.