Successful people encounter setbacks all the time, just like you, just like me.
It’s a feature of setting goals and taking action towards them.
Occasionally, these setbacks are mere bumps in the road which you can navigate, and sometimes they are larger obstacles which require resilience, a change of tack, or a bit of a rethink.
Sometimes, however, the setbacks seem insurmountable. There are those events that really derail you, really knock you off your feet, and you wonder how you can possibly move forward.
It could be losing a major client, failing to secure a big contract that would have set your business up for quite some time, or a career setback such as missing out on a big promotion, or even losing your job.
One of my former clients contacted me recently to say they had had a real setback in their life’s goal. They were upset, deflated, feeling generally “yuk” about it.
If you’ve ever had such a setback that has really knocked you flat at the time, I’m sure you’ll get this. When these BIG setbacks occur, all can feel cold and dark, with little hope.
Often, it’s not the setback itself that creates the biggest problem, but the impact it has. It can really knock you off your stride and put you out of action. It ends up taking way too long to overcome because it impacts so many other things. Confidence disappears, we find ourselves procrastinating, doubting our decision-making abilities, or just plain doubting ourselves.
It takes a long time to recover; often too long. And it generally flattens you far more than it might have done. The key is to handle the setback and get back on track to your over-riding goals as soon as possible, but at the same time gain from the setback.
Here are the 4 steps to take…
1. Take Personal Responsibility. You might not feel “responsible” for your current position, but you are responsible for what happens next. Setbacks are only a temporary blocker, a means of pointing you to new opportunities. Being the equivalent of 2-nil down at half-time doesn’t mean you have “lost”, it’s all about how you respond. Are you Response-Able? This is not the same as “blaming” yourself for what has happened. Far from it.
Sometimes this is about rebuilding yourself. Take time out to do so. Count your blessings, strengthen yourself. Self-care is vitally important at this stage… not self-pity though.
2. Refresh your Vision of the big goal. Look long-term again. Focus on your overall long-term goals. Make the Vision bigger, brighter, bolder, and even more compelling and exciting (and don’t forget the Reason).
3. Plan your strategy. Reconfigure the route to your goal from the new position. Circumstances have changed, so you need to just re-establish your plan. The setback may in fact contain some invaluable feedback that you can learn big lessons from and that you will want to incorporate into your plans and future actions. Refocus: take stock of your goals, and reassess your strengths; particularly your Unique Talent (everyone has one). Consider your innate abilities, developed skills/ experience, and particular passions (the things you love doing and are great at). Do you need to develop more skills, know-how, or knowledge to take you to the next stage?
4. Take Action: don’t be drawn into procrastination and lethargy. Take action on those aspects of your goals that you have control over. Getting a fresh job (or setting up on your own) is full time, and you need to get active.
Simplify the actions that you need to take on a consistent and regular basis. And write these down. Take action on the simplified steps to get there, now focussing just on these initial small steps.
Remember, Decca turned down The Beatles. They weren’t the only record company to do this. In fact, it is thought that at least four respected recording companies turned down the band after auditions. JK Rowling was rejected by four publishers before finding success with the Harry Potter books. And it is reputed that Walt Disney was turned down by 107 banks for a loan to set up Disney.
If you were watching a film, and it began with the good guys winning, it wouldn’t be much of a story would it. The good guys have to start off in dire straits, and the story needs jeopardy, so that we can all enjoy the comeback, the journey they take to victory. That’s the nature of goals: they are only goals because they require you to overcome the challenge. No challenge, no goal, no success.
“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed
is more important than any one thing.”
– Abraham Lincoln
