Working with people is often challenging, regardless of how much you might love it. In this world, inputs usually produce something other than expected outputs. Therefore, you need to look at the implementation details of people’s reactions, which play a critical role in their interpretation of the world.

Because of the complexity of human interaction and how it further complicates designing complex systems, managers can sometimes find it hard to keep their mental health and energy high. The mental exhaustion of managers is not the subject of healthy discussions often.

I get angry and frustrated sometimes as I am not immune to these most human feelings. But I always make sure to stay calm and professional. Even though I eliminate more significant problems by remaining calm, this is often not enough because frustration and anger linger in your body far longer than the thoughts of what happened.

The way I typically handle these is to ask myself if I want to feel frustrated and angry for the rest of my day. Work is work, and people are people. Where is my limit? Should I spend my time feeling pissed off and not enjoying my limited time with my family? These simple questions eliminate my negative feelings most of the time.

I also realize the importance of self-reminders for staying resilient against challenging problems, simply mental toughness. I always remind myself that I should stay mentally resilient if I want to enjoy this work and excel at it. And the indicators of mental toughness are staying calm, understanding the situation with reasonable questions, realizing that the map is not the territory, and perhaps more importantly, knowing that happiness is a choice.

But again, I will always make mistakes too. Knowing how I will always make mistakes helps me see the realities of my personal growth. Expecting perfection from self means self-harm.

However you handle your feelings, mental toughness requires constant work. You can not build it and expect it to serve you for years. It is a muscle that needs regular exercise to stay fit. It would be best to constantly remind yourself of the importance of staying calm and reasonable and not reacting to the situation with your elevated feelings. Over time, it gets easier.