My January challenge is to creatively empathize with people that do things that I don’t like. I’ve noticed that it’s easier to empathize when you don’t have history with the person. When you have a history, it’s easy to fall into old patterns without even realizing it.

I was waiting for deliverables from someone in Sydney. He’s been late before and I was getting a bit frustrated. Trish reminded me to empathize and I said that, “Maybe he’s busy fighting fires and hosing down koalas so he hasn’t had time to get me what he promised.” It’s unlikely, but it’s a good reminder that he might have more important things to do.

I was also waiting for stuff from someone in London who also has a habit of being late. I know he plays guitar, so I said, “Maybe he was playing guitar and got his fingers stuck in the strings. He was trapped and that’s why he couldn’t respond to my messages.” It’s silly and it got us laughing. Frustration dissipates with laughter.

Frustration doesn’t do any good. What do you do to break unhealthy patterns?