What's Stopping You?: Why Smart People Don't Always Reach Their Potential, and How You Can

Frustration and Anxiety

Of course this brings us neatly to frustration, anger’s little brother. Anthony Robbins also has a lot to say about frustration. He sees it as an exciting action signal because frustration actually comes from a sense of inner self-belief that we could and should be in a better place. It says the solution is within range but that we need to change our approach. In this respect, frustration is very different to disappointment, which is a more final feeling – of negative acceptance – that we are defeated and will never attain what we seek.

Anxiety, meanwhile, is less easily dismissed and is, in fact, a symptom of PTSD – a long-term reaction to the continual triggering of the fear response. As we have seen, such triggering ...