Wouldn’t it be great if things always went according to “our” plans? One of my colleagues calls setbacks “stink bombs” and says “that you can always count on getting at least three of them a year.”
Setbacks are just part of life. They come in all sizes and varying levels of impact. What is important when we have one is to get ourselves on the road to a quick recovery.
There are three key steps in this recovery process:
Express how you feel: You need to be able to express, at least to yourself, how you feel about the setback. You can do this verbally or by writing it down. I like self-talk. This allows you to speak your mind as much as you want about how you feel. Usually, the more you talk to yourself about the setback the better you get at expressing what you really feel and are able to get to the core of the hurt or disappointment.
What positive steps can I take?:Where do you go from here? Each day find a positive step that you can take to move yourself ahead. Do not look back, only look forward.
What can I learn from this?: Did the setback enlighten you in some way? What was the lesson learned from the experience? This will also develop more the further out from the setback that you get. Reflection is always good after a setback.
Things are bound to happen. If you are not experiencing a “stink bomb” now don’t worry you will some day and probably not too far off in the future.
Move forward and don’t look back. What do you want to accomplish? Get it in your mind and then do it!
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