Thank You for that Setback

Suffer a setback? Don’t waste your time feeling defeated, because you’ve just been given two gifts: a lesson and fuel.

After a setback occurs, take a little time to process what happened and identify how you’re feeling. Once you’ve identified the emotions (anger, embarrassment, sadness, etc.) it’s easier to move from a place of feeling to a place of action. Think about what you can learn from this setback; there’s a lesson in there somewhere. But don’t be satisfied with just learning the lesson. Take action! Take that emotion you’re feeling and turn it into your fire, your fuel, your catalyst to say, “Oh yeah? Watch me now!” And then do something!

Maybe your setback was that you missed a deadline and your lesson is that you need to manage your time better. Use your frustration as fuel to create a more organized calendar and to start prioritizing where your time goes.

Maybe your setback was that you can’t fit into last year’s dress pants and your lesson is that your desk job is not doing your metabolism any favors. Use your annoyance as fuel to sign up for a 5k and actually train for the 5k!

Whatever the setback, learn the lesson, be fueled by the emotion, and take action that moves you ahead of where you were before the setback occurred.