Don't put the book down
History is full of the names of those who have achieved great things in their lifetimes. What isn't as well-known is the number of people who were equally talented and on the same path, but gave up before reaching their ultimate goal. When you read a book, you know that the hero will face challenges throughout the story and come out on top in the end. You know that regardless of the frustration that the early chapters may bring to the hero, there is whole book to get through. You're not going to accept a story where the hero gives up in the second chapter. That would be ridiculous, right?
Yet if you look around you in the real world, you will see many who are giving up in the early chapters of their stories. They are so caught up in their short-term struggle that the bigger picture eludes them. Instead of looking at their current situation as simply a chapter in the book, they see it as the book itself. And through their actions it eventually does become the whole story, because they have chosen to make it so.
When frustrated and losing hope, you must choose to either accept that problem as the conclusion of your story, or see it as just another chapter. No one else can do that for you.
